Tina and Me
by clarembees
Summary: On the night of graduation, it was just Finn and Tina under the stars and 500 days later, it was still Finn and Tina, but they were more than they ever expected to be.
1. Prologue: Gazing at Starry Skies

_Author's Note: A friend of mine encouraged me to write the pairing of Finn and Tina, who for some reason, I just love the idea of. I'm posting this on a board I write for regularly and I figured I'd post it here to see what the gleeks think of it._

_My inspiration for this came from the movie (500) Days of Summer starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel and the Hanson song "Penny and Me," which the title plays off of. It's written in first person and alternates between Finn's POV and Tina's depending on the chapter._

_This piece is done in a non-linear narrative style just like the movie so chapters will jump from say "Day 5" to "Day 200" and so on._

_Also, I started writing this **before** this past season finale aired so Finchel – in this story, anyway – never had their New York reunion._

**~*~Prologue: Gazing At Starry Skies~*~**

**The Day Before Day One**

_**And Penny and me like to gaze at starry skies/Close our eyes, pretend to fly**_

"_**Penny and Me" - by Hanson**_

_**Finn's POV -**_

I could hear everyone else's voices – their hoots, their hollers, drunken ramblings, proclamations of love and whatever – in the distance. It was like I was at one end of the tunnel and they were at the other or something.

_Whoa,_ I paused, letting out a rushed breath of air,_ Since, like, when did I get **so** deep_?

Shaking my head, I sat up and tilted my head upwards, looking at the glittering stars that dotted the otherwise black sky of Lima. My stomach did this weird twisty thing for a second as I remembered being in the park with Rachel when she sang that Barbara Streisand song from that one movie where she pretended to be a Jewish boy for Burt after he had his heart attack during junior year.

A heavy sigh fell from my lips and I raked my fingers through my hair and as if pulled by some invisible force (there I go getting all deep again), my eyes found her familiar tiny figure all the way on the other side of the football field. The gleeks – at Kurt's insistence, duh, cause like really when _doesn't_ he want to throw some fabulous (his word, not mine) party – were here for his big graduation party thing. He called it something else, though. It was like some French word, I think, but because of Puck, it ended up becoming just a regular high school party.

There was a keg, a makeshift bar with liquor bottles we all stole from our parents, chips and dip, pizza, vegan food for Rachel, a cake she baked and my Mom's famous (no, _seriously_, they're really famous) chocolate chip cookies.

My stomach rumbled slightly, but I ignored it and kept my eyes on Rachel. Even though, I spent most of junior year with Quinn, I kinda always believed – like in the back of my mind – Rachel and I would have gotten back together, but it never happened.

Anyway, she was sitting primly (like only she could) on a blanket with Sam and my stomach did that weird twisty thing again. Don't get me wrong, Sam's a pretty cool dude and all; his impressions, they're like awesome, but that doesn't make seeing them together hurt any less or whatever.

_Man,_ I thought shaking my head. _I'm getting all deep **and** depressed. Does that mean I'm all emo now or something?_

"Are you hoping to stare at them so _hard _that Avatar bursts into flames?" A soft voice from behind me got me to stop zoning out.

"Uh..." I started to say as my eyes blinked over and over. "No?" The way I said it made it sound more like a question and I was greeted to bubbly laughter as the owner of the soft voice came to sit next to me, allowing me to see that it was Tina.

I felt stupid that it took me so long to recognize that it was her, but even though she lost her fake stutter somewhere during sophomore year, she still didn't talk much. I don't think I've ever heard her say more than like three sentences in a row; unless, you know, she was talking about Asian stuff or some Goth band like _Florence + The Machine _or something.

"I get it." She murmured her hands fluttering over the fluffiness of the tutu type of skirt she always seemed to be wearing. "You don't _want_ Avatar to _actually_ burst into flames cause Rachel would be all sad and whatever, but you still wish it was _you_ who was on the receiving end of her crazy, big eyes."

I wasn't sure if Tina was talking about Artie or Mike, so I just nodded, but out of the corner of my eye I could see her eyes drift in the direction of the slim Asian, who even on the choppy grass of the football field, was moving gracefully with Mercedes in his arms.

"Not to get super personal or anything, and you can like totally tell me to shut up or that it's none of my business," As I rambled, I could feel my cheeks getting hotter and hotter underneath her dark gaze that was suddenly directed at me. "But how come you and Mike broke up? You guys seemed to be all happy with your Asian love and stuff."

Her tongue clicked and her eyes narrowed and for a second I thought she might go all woman crazy or I guess in her case ninja girl crazy on me, but instead her heart-shaped face softened and she whispered in a way that seemed like she was _trying_ to be joking, "Sometimes you can have _too much_ dim sum, Frankenteen."

"That's your way of telling me to shut up, isn't it?" I playfully nudged her with my shoulder and she laughed while pushing several strands of her hair behind her ear.

My eyes went wide as I could see a pattern of several stars winding down from just behind her ear to neck. _Whoa, _I thought. _Tina has tattoos! That's, like, super badass!_

"Y-you have tattoos?" I asked, inwardly cringing at how my voice cracked.

The apples of her pale cheeks flushed brightly as she looked down at her combat boots for just a second before turning back to me. "Technically, I have _a_ tattoo. I got it just before graduation. It's _so_ corny and I don't even know why I'm telling _you_," She laughed, her eyes drifting away again. "But I like looking up at the stars. I go up to my roof sometimes and just lay there and look at them. They're really beautiful and – um – they make me feel like I can do anything."

"That's cool."

Suddenly everything got really quiet as we just stared at each other. The silence wasn't broken by either of us, but by Puck's loud yelp of, "I did it! I am the _baddest_ of the _badass_! I finally got into Lauren's giant panties!"

"God," Tina muttered, her voice laced with disgust. "Doesn't he understand the meaning of TMI?"

Her shuddering and the look of horror on her soft features made me laugh. "Does that mean, you won't miss him after tonight?" 

"Puck's not my best friend; he's yours. Hell, if it wasn't for glee, he wouldn't know that I existed. Unless, you know, he needed a tutor for something; then he would come and talk to me because I'm Asian. Cause that's _not_ totally racist or anything."

"Uh, Tina, if it wasn't for glee, _I _wouldn't know that you existed except for the whole tutor thing too. Crap!" I shouted, panic forming across my face. "Does that make me racist too? Cause, _seriously_, I am _not_ a racist! I totally believe that dumb Asians exist!"

"Relax, Finn," Her soft voice was shadowed by giggles and her eyes sort of sparkled as she looked up at me from behind her eyelashes that were like _really super long_. "I know you're not racist. And yeah, you wouldn't know me if it wasn't for glee, but I wouldn't know you either; so you know what? We're even."

I don't know why, but I stretched my legs out underneath me and laid down on the grass like I had been earlier. She did the same thing and as she stretched, her leg brushed against mine and I could feel a shiver rush through me. Her wrist touched mine and the lace of her fingerless gloves (that _totally_ confused me) rubbed against my skin and it felt rough, but like, in a good way.

I turned to look at her and it hard, _really hard_ not to notice why Artie and Mike fell for her. She wasn't traditionally pretty like Quinn with delicate blonde waves of hair and almond shaped green eyes or beautiful like Rachel with shiny chocolate hair and big, expressive doe eyes, but there was something cute and at the same time, like, exotic (I think that's the word) about her.

Her black hair was _so_ black and glossy that she didn't need the blue streaks she put in sometimes. Her skin was this pale color that shimmered with a hint of pink like the pearls in the necklace Burt bought my Mom for their first anniversary and her lips were small and perfectly formed while her brown eyes glimmered; hinting at the bubbly giggles that were just below the surface and could burst forth any time.

I swallowed hard as my eyes drifted (but man, I _couldn't _help it) to the curves of her boobs that I could see coming through the off the shoulder black sweater she wore.

"You're not staring at my boobs are you?" Her voice cut through the slightly humid summer air like a knife and I could feel all the blood rushing to my face.

"No." I croaked.

"Just keep your eyes on the stars, Frankenteen. I don't want to have to go all Asian girl ninja on you."

I swallowed as my imagination took over and the image of her in some kind of skin tight leather cat suit thing appeared in my head. It was replaced quickly, though, by her voice being all dreamy and soft as she whispered, "They really are beautiful, aren't they?" 

"Yeah," I agreed hoarsely, surprised by the way I was suddenly thinking about her. "They are."


	2. Chapter One: Been Here Before

**~*~Chapter One: Been Here Before~*~**

**Day Thirty Two**

_**I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before/Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all**_

"_**One and Only" - by Adele**_

_**Tina's POV -**_

Secretly, I was a _totally_ girly cliché.

I loved looking up at the glittering stars in the sky; _so much_ that I climbed on my roof just to get a better view. Then there was my fascination with the rain; the sound, the smell, everything, I loved it all.

I also loved old romantic movies like _The Philadelphia Story_ with Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant and though I would _never_ admit it out loud (cause it's such a _Rachel_ thing to do), I could recite every Ali McGraw line from _Love Story_.

I liked dancing around my room to Britney, Christina, Rihanna and The Spice Girls. I even used my hairbrush for a microphone.

But that was on the inside; on the outside, I was all about goth chic. The darker shade of purple or blue the better. And one of my personal rules was you can never have too many studs on anything. Another personal rule (despite Kurt's adamant protests to the contrary) was you can never have too many bracelets on your wrists.

Oh, and toe socks – whether they're Rainbow Bright striped or just alternating stripes of purple and black – are _always_ cool. Duh.

But you know what else made me a total girly cliché? Finn Hudson.

Yes, _that_ Finn Hudson.

I can't pin point exactly when _"it"_ started. I mean, it wasn't easy to figure out like it was with Artie or Mike.

Artie was an outcast like me; the four eyed cripple people always made fun of. We could relate to one another, we accepted each other. With Mike (and don't say it was because we were both Asian!) it was how the little kids at Asian camp related to his dancing, how the smooth features of his handsome face would bloom into this easy smile that reached his eyes, and yeah, of course there were his abs.

But with Finn it was..._Different_.

He wasn't an outcast (sure, we weren't in high school anymore, but still) and he didn't have Mike's easy grace. Or his abs for that matter.

And yet when I would climb my roof to look at the stars or when I would listen to the pounding of the rain, I would inevitably find myself thinking of him.

His face would take shape in my mind's eye; dark hair that stuck up in every direction but was still seemingly perfect, puppy dog brown eyes, cute nose, thin lips that stretched into this big, goofy smile, and cheeks always flushed with warmth.

Then my mind would drift away from his face and settle on how each of his features made me feel.

I liked running my fingers through his hair and how it seemed like he had perpetual bed head. His lips (despite the fact that he wasn't a virgin) were sort of sloppy but mostly earnest and felt good pressing into mine. His cute nose, when it rubbed against mine in an Eskimo kiss, always had me giggling girlishly and his puppy dog brown eyes, without much protest from me, could get him to at least third base.

His big, goofy smile, though, that had to be my favorite part of him.

It was _too_ endearing and dorky (just like him) to resist.

I wasn't sure if _that_ smile was meant _just _for me, but whenever I caught his eye _that_ smile was always stretched across his thin lips. And it never failed to make my heart feel like it had wings and my stomach feeling like it was on a wild roller coaster ride with the way it flip flopped.

I toyed with the edges of my soft curls that were pulled into pig tails while I sat on my bay window seat in my bedroom as I continued my inner musings about Finn. Because, um, seriously me and Frankenteen? Who would have guessed that was ever going to happen? No one, that's who.

"Girl," I could hear Mercedes' voice booming from my doorway, but I didn't turn around. "_Awww, hells no_." She muttered before stomping all the way inside and using her _"you're getting off your lazy Asian ass"_ tone as she yelled, "You are _not_ going all quiet Asian on me! I know you didn't forget we're hitting up Victoria's Secret today!"

I didn't have to see her to know her features were suddenly wrought with panic. Even if I didn't hear the quick gasp she let out, I would have known. Her brash, diva confidence was gone; replaced by a contrite tone that seemed out of place as she whispered, "I didn't mean to go all diva on you, T. I probably shouldn't have asked you to come with me anyway. It's cool, girl, I can just ask Rachel and we'll go."

Turning to face her, I arched a critical brow and pursed my lips purposefully. "Yeah, cause you _totally want_ to look like a _Jewish virgin_ for Mike. Besides, we both know that Rachel Berry is _not_ setting foot inside a Victoria's Secret; at least not without ranting about feminism and how their impossible standards for women are driving teenagers such as ourselves to starvation, bulimia and anorexia."

"So..." She gave me an uncharacteristically shaky smile. "You're not upset about me and Mike?"

"It was like I told Finn on graduation night when everyone was partying on the football field," The words left my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. "Sometimes you can have too much dim sum. We're good, okay? I swear. It's always hos before bros."

Now it was her turn to arch a brow, but hers came with narrowed eyes and hands on her hips; a stance that spoke volumes without her having to say anything. She basically – without using words – told me we weren't leaving my room until I explained what was up with me and Finn and suddenly I wished I could fake my stutter again.

With each word my cheeks got progressively redder and by the time I was finished describing cowboy movie marathons, late night star gazing, chocolate chip cookie gorging, bike rides through the park and impromptu sing-a-longs to _The Smiths_ (yes, All American man-boy-jock Finn Hudson liked _The Smiths_), I whispered in a choked voice as I pulled my knees up to my chest, "I'm scared, Mercedes."

Suddenly she was sitting next to me and I was pulled against her body as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and absently stroked my hair. Yeah, she might be dating my ex-boyfriend, but it was totally (like I said earlier) hos before bros.

"Why are you scared?" She asked after a long moment of silence.

The quizzical look on her warm features didn't surprise me. Pushing myself away from her, I leaned up against the other side of the window seat and let out a shaky breath as I scrubbed at my eyes for a moment; cause I really didn't want to cry. Girly bonding moments and stuff were cool and fun, but this could get _way_ Lifetime movie really fast and yeah, I was not down for that.

"I've felt _this_ before." I fumbled with my fingers as my eyes drifted to my toe-socked feet before meeting Mercedes' soft and caring brown eyes. "I got all lost over Artie and the same thing happened with Mike and now it's happening again, but with Finn...It's like different. It feels _real_; real in a way it's never been and I don't know what to do."

"Do you love him?"

"_No_!" I shrieked; answering her far more quickly than I intended and my cheeks only got redder. "I mean...ugh." I groaned my eyes drifting to the ceiling as I shook my head. "It seems like I could love him, and that's totally crazy, isn't it? He's Finn _freaking_ Hudson! I'm talking about how I could love _Frankenteen_. What kind of warped alternate Battle Star Galactica universe am I living in?"

"You know I do not understand you when you start talking that geeky sci-fi ish."

Laughter burst forth from my lips and my whole body shook with it as I was struck by the memory of Finn blinking at me repeatedly like a confused puppy who was learning his way around the world for the first time when I tried to explain the series to him.

I didn't want to gush over him – it was too soon to start gushing and getting all squishy and stuff – but I couldn't help it. "He's _so_ cute." I mumbled, my voice taking on this dreamy kind of quality. "It's so weird, though, it's like I've known him for _how_ long now? But I'm totally seeing him for the first time and he sees me too. In a way Mike and Artie never did. I like that he sees me like that and how he tells me he likes my knees, how his fingers kind of shake when they trace the chain of stars on the back of my neck and how his kisses are a little sloppy but _so_ earnest."

"Whoa..."

Mercedes and I quickly snapped our heads in the direction of my bedroom's doorway after hearing that gasp. _Fuck my life_, I thought bitterly while wishing my window seat would somehow swallow me whole because as I live and breath Finn Hudson was standing right there.

As if anyone else would be standing there after my little speech.

Ugh.

Mercedes looked from me to Finn and then back at me before standing up and saying, "Don't worry about today, T. We can hit up the mall some other time. I'll call you with the deets and we can bring Kurt too and have some OG BFF time. You know he won't turn that down. Especially after I tell him you're still wearing Rainbow Bright's rejected socks."

I shot daggers at her retreating back as she sashayed from the room. So much for hos before bros.

"Uh..." _Damn,_ I cursed inwardly, as the syllable fumbled off Finn's lips. _There he goes doing that confused puppy dog blinking thing_. _Fuck my life...Again_.

"You don't have to say anything. I was under the impression that I was speaking girl to girl and that no one else would hear that. So just pretend like you didn't and I might let you get past third base."

"Don't get me wrong getting past third base would be _awesome_. Like getting through all twelve levels of _Halo_ or having my Mom's chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, but yeah, I can't just forget what you said, Tina."

His voice became hoarse and had a warmth to it when he said my name that made my stomach flip flop and I was cursing him again. His large hand was shaking slightly as he took my hand and pulled me out of my sitting position after he moved away from the door.

Suddenly I was pulled against him and I shuddered; he was this mixture of hard and soft (cause like I said, he did _not_ have Mike's abs), but he felt and smelled male and it was just _so damn good_ that I had to shudder.

He made me feel all soft and tiny and feminine as he hugged me close and bent his head to kiss my nose before he rubbed his own too cute nose against mine. Then he brought my arms around his neck and he put his hands on my hips and he started to sway; slow and kind of awkward, of course, and soon my room was filled with the sound of his singing.

_**(So if there's something you'd like to try**_

_**If there's something you'd like to try**_

_**Ask me, I won't say "no," how could I?) ("Ask" by The Smiths)**_

"_Ask_ by the The Smiths," I arched a brow as I titled my head back so I could look at him. And a slow smile spread across my lips. "Well played, Frankenteen, well played."

_**(Coyness is nice and coyness can't stop you**_

_**From saying all the things in life you'd like to)**_

_**(So if there's something you'd like to try**_

_**If there's something you'd like to try**_

_**Ask me, I won't say "no," how could I?)**_

_**Song used "Ask" by The Smiths**_


	3. Chapter Two: Hold You Close To Me

_Author's Note: Originally this story was rated M overall, but I decided giving it a T rating overall was more appropriate. There will be M-rated chapters, like the one after this, but you can skip it if that's not your thing; they're not necessarily vital to the plot of the story._

_Also, I don't own Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence or Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson._

**~*~Chapter Two: Hold You Close To Me~*~**

**Day Fifteen**

_**It's all up in the air and we stand still to see what comes down/I don't know where it is, I don't know when, but I want you around**_

"_**She Is" - by The Fray**_

_**Finn's POV -**_

The rain _totally_ came out of nowhere. Suddenly dark grey clouds took over, then they opened and poured out like _monster_ amounts of rain.

The next thing I knew, I was grabbing Tina's hand and dragging her into the nearest form of shelter or whatever warm, dry place I could find. As my feet rushed over the hard ground, they made these _rad_ splattering kind of noises and it seemed like as soon as the splat happened, she would let out a rush of her bubbly giggles and it was like we were making music.

I didn't want to go anywhere anymore. I wanted to stay outside and just run so my feet could splat and her giggles would continue and we would keep making our own kinda music.

But I could feel her hand shaking in mine and I could feel the wetness of the rain seeping further into my green T-shirt and sliding down my spine and since my Mom was a nurse and all, I knew I had to get us somewhere warm cause we could like catch pneumonia or something.

And catching pneumonia was _not_ awesome. Duh.

I lead us into some random bookstore that I wouldn't have gone into otherwise. Cause, you know, reading it like makes my head hurt. Unless we're talking about comic books or the latest gaming mags.

I was breathing kinda heavy, but as it slowed down I took a good look at the girl who was sort of standing across from me and I swallowed hard. I _really_ needed to start thinking about the mailman. If I didn't I was going to have a _major_ problem.

It sounds mean to say I never noticed Tina before the graduation night party, but it was sort of true. Sure, we were in glee and had been going to the same schools since like elementary and all, but she wasn't the kind of girl you noticed.

Quinn and Rachel and Santana and _even_ Brittany (but that was mostly cause she said the crazies stuff; like how her cat reads her diary) were the girls you noticed.

Quinn cause she was so pretty it like blew your mind. Rachel cause she was this powerhouse in such a tiny package. Santana cause she was like 95 pounds of bitch and legend had it when she was born she told the nurse who delivered her she was fat...And um, yeah, she had razor blades in her hair; like all up in there.

I shuddered at the thought, but Tina didn't notice; probably cause she thought it was from the rain and all.

Anyway, like I was saying, Tina wasn't the kind of girl you noticed. At least I didn't until the graduation night party. And now I was noticing her again.

Her long black hair, that was wet from the rain, clung to the full apples of her cheeks that were filled with the perfect amount of color and showed off the small dots of freckles along her cheeks and nose. Her perfectly formed lips were pink and glittering like the inside of those disgusting grapefruits Kurt's always making Burt eat ever since his heart attack.

And yeah, her boobs, _totally_ on display because of her pale yellow (like who knew goths wore yellow) sundress (kinda like the one the girls wore during their mash-up from sophomore year) was totally soaked.

"H-have y-you..." Her teeth chattered as she rubbed her arms up and down really fast, which had my eyes going wide and in a rush of panic (cause _seriously_ what kind of dude just lets a chick freeze?), I pulled her against me, making her let out this kind of loud but kind of cute at the same time, yelp.

_Crap_, I thought as I felt her curves that I was slowly noticing, press into me. She was soft in all the right places. Not delicate and brittle like Quinn or slim and toned like Rachel, but soft and girly and her hair smelled like strawberries.

Not that I was being creepy and smelling her hair; cause I so wasn't.

Because I was so much taller than her, her head was tucked underneath my chin and as she turned ever so slightly, her face became buried against my neck. The rush of warm air coming from her easy breathing as it hit my clammy skin, suddenly had me feeling hot all over and my stomach doing back flips.

The sound of someone shouting her name, "Tina," made her scramble away from me and I found myself missing the feel of her and the warm rush of her easy breathing.

An old Asian man who could have been Mr. Miyagi's twin was walking toward her with a huge smile on his face and open arms. Like a butterfly she fluttered toward him and eagerly returned his hug. Her smile mirrored his as they spoke excitedly and in Chinese (at least I think it was Chinese), but I didn't really care what they were saying. I was more interested in how the big smile on her perfectly formed lips had her looking so cute and how it made my heart do this weird thumping thing in my chest.

She walked back to me after a couple minutes and her smile was softer, but if it was possible she looked doubly cute as she rocked back and forth on her heels and peered at me from behind her super long eyelashes. "I c-c-come here a lot. They have a great selection of b-banned books."

I rubbed the back of my neck absently and my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Banned books? I know reading can mostly suck – no offense – but like, why would anyone want to ban books? That seems dumb."

Those bubbly giggles of hers burst forth and I found myself laughing with her even though I didn't know why she was laughing. When she stopped, she grabbed at my hand, her fingers tightening around my own and like this electric shock surged up my arm; it felt good and different and strange all at once and I liked it.

"I d-don't know if you like t-tt-tea," Her teeth were still kinda chattering or maybe her stutter came back (I didn't know if that could happen, but I guess anything's possible and stuff) as she walked me up a small flight of stairs near the back of the store. "But Mr. Phan – you know Mr. Miyagi's twin," She laughed softly and I could feel my mouth hanging open (how did she know I called him that in my head?). "Is making us some so we don't catch our death."

She used air quotes like Rachel used to when she said the word death and I wished she hadn't cause she ended up letting go of my hand.

My eyes followed her slow, graceful movements as she walked around the small space that was surrounded by shelves and shelves of books; like they were practically bursting or something. Even though, I could have totally been staring at her ass (and um, yeah, it was totally worth staring at; it was round and the curve of it looked like it was made for the palm of my hand), but instead I was looking at her hands.

Weird, right?

I don't know why I was looking at her hands, but I couldn't seem to help it. They were small – not tiny and slender like Rachel's or delicate and smooth like Quinn's – and curved in a cute (if hands could be called cute) way that seemed to glide over the spines of the old books in a way that I wanted them to glide over my wrist or maybe my neck and my...Whoa, I breathed out while in my head I kept repeating mailman, mailman, mailman over and over.

When Mr. Phan (he was still Mr. Miyagi's twin to me, though), brought up the tray of tea and set it on the round table, I just noticed was in the center of the room, Tina gave him the big smile from earlier and I think said thank you in Chinese before bowing slightly.

Her voice took on a husky, breathy quality when she spoke in her language and it had the pit of my stomach growing all warm and made my throat dry. Her hands once again attracted my attention as she made herself a cup of tea; like the movements of her body, they were graceful and sure and seemed to glide as they moved.

Seriously, since when did I find hands so hot?

"Come on," She urged, her voice and smile sweet. "Try some. It's like the Taso passion tea they have at Starbucks; only this is the_ real_ stuff. I'll even be nice and let you put sugar in it so it isn't too bitter for your Western pallet."

I tried not to make a face as the hot liquid slid down my throat. I didn't know what she meant when she said I had a Western pallet; cause, um, I was like born in Lima and that's the Mid-West, but whatever the tea was still too bitter tasting for me.

She gave in and let me add several more big lumps of sugar.

After I took another sip, I gave her the thumb's up sign and she just shook her head before patting the spot on the floor next to her. I tried not to trip and spill the tea everywhere as I made my way over and when I sat down, leaning up against the bookcase just like she was, I looked at the book in her hands.

"_Lady Chatterley's Lover_?" I blinked at her and titled my head to the side.

"I can't believe you've never heard of this book. It's a classic. Ugh." She huffed. "Much to learn you have young Frankenteen."

Okay, sort of quoting Yoda, totally like five alarm hot. _Mailman, mailman, mailman_.

After taking a long sip from her tea, she opened up the book and her one hand was doing that gliding thing it did and then she started to read and um, yeah, I did not expect to hear what I heard.

"_**His body was urgent against her, and she didn't have the heart anymore to fight...She saw his eyes, tense and brilliant...Her will had left her...For a moment he was still inside her, turgid there and quivering. Then as he began to move, in the sudden helpless orgasm..."**_

Quickly, I shut the book and somehow managed to miss crushing her fingers in the process. My jaw was clenched tight and I could feel it quivering as I stared directly into her eyes. "St-tt-stop," I sputtered. "You gotta stop, T-tt-Tina."

"It's not _porn_ or anything! D-don't think that I was t-trying t-tt-to..." Her stutter seemed like it was back and she was rambling while her cheeks flamed brightly and suddenly she was looking at me with these big helpless brown eyes and I took her hand, that was now shaking, in mine and I told her, "I know you weren't like suggesting we do all that stuff. You um, think the book's beautiful, right?"

If I could have crossed my fingers, I would have. Cause the last thing I wanted was for her to run away, which seemed like it could happen at any second.

I could feel her hand stopped shaking and I watched as her body visibly relaxed. "I do think it's beautiful." She admitted, her voice going soft and sounding kinda musical. "Lady Chatterley may not be Asian, but she's a total sex symbol. Maybe someday you'll let me read it to you."

Her head fell against my shoulder and it was like we were back on the football field, laying side by side and looking up at the stars before she reached behind her, seemingly knowing exactly which book to reach for and with a sweet smile on her face she said, "This is a book I _know_ you'll like."

She flipped through the pages of the book and since it was already open I couldn't read the title and her eyes met mine as she read, _**"Fifteen men on the dead men's chest. Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest! Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"**_

I smiled at her and brushed some of her hair behind her ear as I said, "Good choice, Cohen-Chang," while settling against the back of the book case to make sure I was comfortable.

I still didn't even know what we were doing or when we started hanging out or whatever, but as she continued reading, I knew I wanted her around.

And that she smelled damn good.


	4. Chapter Three: Staying The Distance

_Author's Note: This chapter features day 42 and day 42 ½ thrown in and goes from Tina's POV to Finn's, but the next chapter will still be in his POV even though this ends in his POV. Also, this is rated M, so if that isn't your thing, you can go head and skip it; no hard feelings._

**~*~Chapter Three: Staying The Distance~*~**

**Day Forty Two**

_**I'll put up no resistance/I want to stay the distance**_

"_**Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me" - by Jayma Mays from the Rocky Horror Glee Show -**_

_**Tina's POV -**_

"Will you stop!" I groaned as Finn once again tried to reach for my beach bag as we walked back to his house after leaving the pool.

I had swatted him with it when he tried to play grab ass (_not_ cool; though the sheepish and so _obviously_ fake innocent look on his boyish face was _cute_) earlier and had whined about how I was going to bruise him if I did it again, and then his puppy dog curiosity got the best of him and he wanted to know what was in my bag.

"You're not, like um, carrying nunchucks in there are you?" He asked his voice sort of nervous and a little higher than usual.

"You're only asking _me_ that because I'm Asian. If you were walking with _Quinn_, would you be asking if she had a stack of Bibles in her purse?" My eyes were narrowed, my hands were on my hips and I was daring him, silently, to say anything.

"Did I tell you how pretty you looked today?" He was trying desperately (duh) to save his ass from me going all angry girlfriend on him and I thought about breaking out the feminist rant I had used on Artie ages ago (with obvious tweaks, of course), but I didn't.

Instead, I laughed and my whole stance softened.

It was _super _corny and I almost thought twice about doing it, but for some reason I _really_ wanted to hold his hand, so I reached over and wrapped my fingers around his. I sort of leaned against his shoulder (he was so _freaking_ tall, it was more like the middle of his arm, though) as we walked and I could feel this easy warmth building up inside of me as my stomach fluttered when his singing reached my ears.

He wasn't singing The Smiths this time; instead he was signing my guilty pleasure (that only _he_ knew about; not even Mercedes and Kurt knew), Hanson. It was their song _"Penny and Me"_ except he replaced Penny with my name.

Speaking of _super_ corny.

I was going to roll my eyes and hit him with my bag again to get him to stop, but as he got to the chorus, _**"Cause Tina and me like to roll the windows down...Turn the radio up, push the pedal down...Tina and me like to gaze at starry skies...Close our eyes, pretend to fly...It's always Tina and me tonight...," **_the fluttering of my stomach only got worse and the easy warmth spread throughout the rest of my body, and I liked both feelings too much to tell him to stop.

Once we were inside the house, I leaned up against the doorway to the kitchen and I asked, "Do you still want to know what's in my bag?"

He shrugged like it was no big deal, but I knew better. "You can tell me if you want."

I slipped the elusive item from amongst my towel, hairbrush, sunglasses and bracelets (yeah, I wore bracelets to the pool; so what?) and I showed it to him, my heart suspended in my chest at what his reaction would be. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open and then he just kept blinking, obviously trying to process what he was looking at.

"T-t-that's y-your bb-book," He sputtered. "Y-you, um, wow, like you carry it with you? All the time?"

"Maybe," My answer was non-committal and I mirrored his earlier shrug. But it only took one soft beat of my heart, after his fingers reached out to touch mine that were wrapped around my book's spine, to admit that I did carry it around with me almost all the time.

"I read it every night before bed." I confessed from behind hooded eyes. "Sometimes I'll even take it on the roof with me when I look up at the stars. Just um, like, don't make fun of me, okay? I know it's stupid and mushy and girly and kinda gross cause it's mushy, but it's _my_ book and _you_ bought it for me with your _first_ paycheck from working at Burt's garage and all, and yeah..."

My voice just sort of trailed off and I shivered because of the combination of how he was looking at me and the hoarse but honest tone of his voice. "I wasn't going to make fun of you. I'd never make fun of you, Tina," He said and before I knew what was happening, he was there, taking me in his arms and pulling my lips to his.

I gasped as his large hands pulled at me, fighting to bring me closer.

It hit me when he backed me up against the wall that lead to the stairs, that we were going to have sex.

There was going to be no backing out this time, no frantic murmurs of "Shit, Burt's home" or Chinese curses from me as I scrambled to untangle myself from his limbs after hearing my parents pull into the garage; this was happening.

Finn was going to see all of me, feel all of me, be with me and I was going to see all of him, feel all of him and be with him too.

This was _nothing_ like it was with Mike; for one thing Finn was carrying me (yes, _carrying _me) into his room and I bet he felt just like Roy Rogers or Gene Autry or some other cowboy hero who had rescued the helpless school marm, and I would have called him out on it, except I liked it.

I liked the way he laid me down amongst the typical cotton of his navy blue sheets and how soft his pillows were behind my head. I liked how his kisses – over the chain of stars on the back of my neck, across my eyelids, over the bridge of my nose, apples of my cheeks and my collar bone – were more earnest than sloppy and how he _really_ seemed to be concentrating.

It was just _so _Finn.

"Oh, God..." I breathed out, my throat growing tight and my whole body shaking as I felt his heavy, hot breath beating against my center through my bikini bottoms; the jumper I was wearing was gone, when it left my body I didn't know; all I knew is I was just laying on his bed in my bikini.

His hands ran up and down my legs, pausing to caress my knees over and over cause he had this weird fascination with them; just like he did with my hands, but my inner musings were taken over quickly by the feeling of his lips pressing right at the heart of me.

My back arched in a way it never had before and my eyelids fluttered over and over, my eyelashes suddenly turning into the wings of a butterfly or a hummingbird. My everything – like, _seriously_ – _everything_ was trembling as he untied the strings of my bottoms; his fingers fumbled at first and he even let out a groan of "crap," which made me laugh, but my laughter quickly turned into a hiss as he slid the stretchy fabric down my legs; leaving my bottom half exposed to his darkened gaze.

My top went next and yeah, he fumbled with that too, but once again it was just _so_ Finn that I could careless. He could fumble his way through the actual _sex_ and I was sure I wouldn't care. I just wanted to be close to him, to feel him, to have it all.

"T-Tt-Tina," He let out a rush of air as he gazed at my now completely naked body and he licked his lips before he covered me with his long, gangly frame; letting me feel all of him as he whispered against my right breast, "You're so pretty."

Then my world was reduced to a kaleidoscope of colors, swirls and sensations as he kissed me all over before finally sheathing himself amongst the slick warmth of my center.

I felt like I couldn't breathe or swallow as my walls clenched tightly around him, like a vice, when he exploded inside of me and through my hooded eyes I could see him shuddering above me; his brow was slick with sweat, his hair was sticking to his forehead, his cheeks were flushed brightly and he looked soooo...I couldn't even finish my thought as he pounded into me harder than before and I felt _it_; my orgasm taking over.

It was like waves from a beach were constantly crashing over me as I gave his name, "Finn," a million extra syllables while I shook violently underneath him.

I don't know how long it took the shaking to slow down, but eventually it stopped altogether, and then my eyes opened and he was staring down at me, goofy smile on his face and whispering, "You're so pretty" over and over while he peppered my mouth with the sweetest kisses I had ever experienced.

**Day Forty Two and a Half**

_**I'm bare boned and crazy for you/When you come crash into me, baby**_

"_**Crash Into Me" - by Dave Matthews Band**_

_**Finn's POV -**_

Since my Mom and I had moved in with Kurt and Burt, I had never been so thankful that except for me the house was empty. Cause yeah, I didn't really want Tina to have to leave after we..._you know_.

That would have _royally _sucked.

We were still in my room even though it was hours later and the day had turned into night.

We played a couple rounds of _Grand Theft Auto_ (I had wanted to play _Halo_, but she had gotten kinda angry so I let her pick the game we'd play instead while silently wondering what her deal with _Halo_ was) and ordered a pizza with the money my Mom and Burt had left on the counter since they were out of town and knew I couldn't live on _just_ grilled cheeses.

All the while she was wandering around the house in the green T-shirt I had worn the day we hid out in the bookstore from the rain and _seriously_ she looked as hot as she ever had.

I came back from the bathroom to see her laying on my bed, her head at the foot of it and her cute little feet at the top. In her hands was a book; at first I thought it was hers – you know, _A Separate Peace_ – but when I laid down, I could see it wasn't. The cover was different and it was thicker.

I stopped thinking about the book in her hands pretty quick because I was laying in the reverse position and that meant her feet – _her cute little feet_ – were near my head and they were just so distracting. Her toes were shiny and the glitter on the black polish sparkled faintly in the light of the streetlights that trickled into my bedroom window and I couldn't help but reach out for them.

"Does your book get lonely or something?" I joked, smiling down at her.

"I'll teach you to make jokes, Frankenteen." Her voice was low and her eyes were narrowed as they stared at me from over the top of her book.

After she turned the page, she made sure to add a breathy sort of edge to her tone (like how she was saying my name over and over earlier) while she read, _**"For a moment he was still inside her, turgid there and quivering. Then as he began to move, in the sudden helpless orgasm, there awoke new strange thrills rippling inside her. Rippling, rippling, rippling, like a flapping overlap of soft flames, soft as feathers, running to points of brilliance, exquisite and melting her all molten inside."  
><strong>_

Before she knew what was happening, I had taken the heel of her left foot into my palm and brought it up to my lips, kissing each one of her toes, in this kind of slow way.

Sure, I had lost it to Santana _forever ago_ and stuff, but I was still new at the whole sex thing. I didn't really know what I was doing, all I knew is her feet were looking all cute and I wanted to kiss them; I just hoped she liked it and didn't think it was weird.

As I got a little brave and touched her big toe with my tongue, her eyes met mine in a flash. They were wide and open and honest and this warm brown color that made them look like melted chocolate and I didn't know why, but I told her, "You don't have to stop reading, you know."

"I don't?" Her voice was kind of squeaky and I could see her boobs rising and falling as she let out a shaky breath.

"N-no." I tried to keep my voice firm, but it cracked anyway. "Don't stop, Tina."

As she read, I moved my mouth up her foot to her ankle; my hands running over her ivory legs and my lips kissing whatever skin I could find.

"_**It was like bells rippling up and up to a culmination. She lay unconscious of the wild little cries she uttered at last. But it was over too soon, too soon..." **_

She paused when my lips found the back of her knee and I licked it a little with my tongue. Her knees were like her hands and her feet; I don't know why I liked them so much, but they were _awesome_, you know?

This long, low moan (it kinda sounded like she was yawning) escaped her pink lips that were sparkling from her tongue licking them over and over as I made way closer to her center. My mouth was close enough to feel the heat and see the wetness that had built up along the inside of her thighs and her folds, and then I leaned in close to give the heart of her a soft kiss.

Her voice was broken and _all_ kinds of breathless as she kept on reading, and um, yeah it was _totally_ hot.

"_**She clung to him unconscious passion, and he never quite slipped from her, and she felt the soft bud of him within her stirring, and strange rhythms flushing up into her with strange rhythmic growing motion, swelling and swelling..."**_

I moaned into her and sort of heard the book slip from her grasp and land on my floor with a thud as her hands slid over my shoulders and down my back and then up again. Her fingers gripped at my hair, pulling slightly and without words she was telling me not to move; a message I was totally getting.

Cause, yeah, I _so_ was not going anywhere.

I lapped at her wetness and when I felt it coating my tongue, my head felt heavy and began to swirl like I was dizzy or on a tilt-a-whirl at the fair or something. Her smell overwhelmed my nose and her taste took over my mouth and tongue. She was like the _best ice cream sundae ever_; just the right amount of sweetness, a tart cherry kind of burst and warm chocolate syrup at the very end.

When it was over and her taste still lingered in my mouth and on my tongue, she was curled into me, her hair that was in a messy ponytail now falling in every direction across my chest like a glossy curtain and I couldn't stop touching her.

My fingers skirted over the barely there freckles that stretched from cheek to cheek, my hands lingered along her legs, I messed around with her toes, which made her giggle as she kicked me and I kept kissing her over and over.

She returned one of my kisses before I could pull back and go in for another. Her tongue slipped past my open mouth and tangled with mine for a second and then she was looking at me through hooded eyes, her long eyelashes kind of fluttering and her cheeks were flushed and her teeth were nibbling on her bottom lip as she whispered, "I read to you, so now you're gonna sing to me."

I was kinda dazed after everything so I couldn't have said no, even if I wanted to. I couldn't think of any Smiths or Hanson songs to sing, so I picked the first one that popped into my head. It _totally_ reminded me of her.

I pulled her just a little closer so she was laying on top of me; her boobs meshed against my chest, her hips were pressed into mine and both of her legs were on either side of me so I was kind of like trapped by her.

And then I started singing; all the while her big brown eyes were staring right at me and my heart was doing this crazy thumping thing inside my chest, and I never wanted it to stop.

_**(You've got your ball**_

_**You've got your chain**_

_**Tied to me tight tie me up again**_

_**Whose got their claws**_

_**In you my friend**_

_**Into your heart I'll beat again**_

_**Sweet like candy to my soul**_

_**Sweet you rock and sweet you roll**_

_**Lost for you I'm so lost for you) ("Crash Into Me" by Dave Matthews Band)**_

_**(You come crash into me**_

_**And I come into you**_

_**I come into you**_

_**In a boy's dream**_

_**In a boy's dream)**_

_**Song used "Crash Into Me" by Dave Matthews Band**_

_Note: The book Tina reads from in this chapter is Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence, which I still don't own and was the same book she tried to read to Finn in the previous chapter when they took refuge from the rain in the bookstore._


	5. Chapter Four: Just The Way You Are

**~*~Chapter Four: Just The Way You Are~*~**

**Day 65**

_**Oh you know, you know/I'd never ask you to change**_

"_**Just The Way You Are" - Glee Cast Version**_

_**Finn's POV -**_

So Tina and I had been having sex for a while and yeah, I don't know _exactly_ how, but um...It got _more_ awesome like _every _time. She could do this thing with her tongue when she would go down on me and yeah – _that_ – was way more than awesome. Like I'm not sure a word has been invented for that yet.

ANYWAY...I don't know why but one night after we had sex (her parents – they're both doctors – and were away on some conference thingy), we climbed onto her house's roof to look at the stars; like we were doing right now and it just like _hit_ me.

I was in love with her.

_Flashback_

_We were both laying down and she was turned into my right side with one of her legs wrapped around my calf since I was so much taller than her and her head was laying across my chest while one of her arms was draped over my stomach and her fingers kept creeping under my shirt and tickling me, which made me squirm._

_And each time I squirmed, I would laugh and then she would too and it only made me want to pull her closer._

_I was stroking her hair and she let out this little yawn and stretched in a way that made her look like this really cute kitty that was waking up from a nap and my stomach got all twisty like I was riding a roller coaster; except it didn't make me want to throw up, it felt good._

"_If you keep doing that, I'm gonna fall asleep." She warned. "And then you'll have to carry me back inside my room and that's going to be pretty awkward for you, Frankenteen. Unless you wake me up, but then I'll be a total bitch and go all girl ninja on your ass. So I guess," Her voice dropped and she looked up at me with hooded eyes warm with intent. "You'll have to make sure I stay awake, won't you?"_

_End Flashback_

"Finn?" Her voice snapped me out of the memory and I gave her a sheepish kind of smile as I looked down at her. "Sorry. I kinda zoned out. Are you cold or something? Do you wanna go back inside?"

A nervous sort of sigh fell from her lips and she pushed herself away from me so she could sit up. Immediately I missed the warmth of her soft body against mine and I was like seconds away from pouting. I know it's a _total_ chick thing, but I couldn't help it. She just felt _so_ good; all small and soft and warm curled up against me.

She ended up sitting in what I called her "yoga" pose (she tried to get me to go once, but um, yeah I'm _even_ worse at yoga than I am at dancing, and that's saying something), and I could feel my tongue slip from my mouth to lick my lips.

Since she was only wearing this off shoulder it was so _old_ it was grey, not black Led Zeppelin T-shirt, her "yoga" pose, gave me the chance to see all of her creamy shapely legs and even some of her thighs, but I was more interested in her knees.

_Dude, her **knees**? _A voice that sounded an awful lot like Puck's entered my head. _Those **sexy** Asian gams of Stutterfly's are on display and you're thinking about her **fucking **knees? What the hell is wrong with you Franken-Finn? And to think, you're my main man and all. Dam. Guess I gotta go make Trouty Mouth my new boy. He at least thinks about Berry's boobs. You make me sick, you know that, man?_

"God, your knees are hot." I whispered, ignoring the imaginary Puck's angry rant.

Her perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up and her eyes went wide. "My knees?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "You think my knees are hot?"

I could feel all the blood rushing to my neck and face as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Uh, yeah?"

"Are you asking me if you think my knees are hot?" Her voice was shadowed by giggles that were hinted at by her brown eyes being all bright and shiny and my stomach was doing that twisty thing over and over again. "Or are you telling me that you think my knees are hot?"

"I'm telling you I think your knees are hot."

This time she did giggle and this happy, bubbly smile crossed her perfect lips and she leaned in really close and told me softly in a way that sounded almost like she was singing, "I like the way you look when you get all proud of yourself. It's totally cute."

My heart swelled and started beating a little faster as I felt her lips press into mine. I didn't have a chance to make the kiss last before she pulled back and started messing around with her hands, which made me really nervous; especially when she kept looking down at her lap and not at me.

After she just told me I looked totally cute, there was no way she was breaking up with me...Was there?

I swallowed shakily and tried my best not to break out into a full on sweat. But I could totally feel myself starting to sweat.

"Have you gotten your college acceptance letters in the mail yet?" She was still looking down at her lap when she asked.

"Uh..." I started to say something, but my throat (that was suddenly dry) closed up and I had to take a big, long gulp to combat the lump that was slowly forming inside. College was something we hadn't talked about, and to be honest, I was sort of avoiding it on purpose.

It kind of made me feel like I was with Rachel all over again.

Cause she was going to be this big Broadway star and move to New York once high school was over and um, Tina, well she was a _Brainiac_ (that was the name of McKinley's academic team) and I wasn't. She probably got accepted to all these great schools and I was looking at Ohio University, The University of Toledo, The University of Cincinnati, Cleveland State and more of the same.

Not that they were _bad_ schools or anything; cause they weren't.

I just knew she was getting letters from _better_ schools and yeah, my stomach was getting all twisty again, but not in a good way. As I waited for her to say something or my mouth to start moving, I felt like I was going to throw up.

While she spoke, she raised her head so she was staring into my eyes, but instead of just folding and unfolding her hands she was messing with the Pirate Hello Kitty necklace I bought her and somehow my stomach managed to be all twisty and sink at the same time. "I got accepted to Stanford."

I didn't know a lot about Stanford besides the fact that John Elway and Andrew Luck went there, but there was _one_ other thing I did know; it was her dream school. During, like, one of the first days we were hanging out, she told me all about it.

It was the first time I noticed how cute she got when she was all excited and stuff.

It was the first time my heart started beating a little bit faster around her.

I don't know if I had planned to tell her I loved her tonight or whatever, but suddenly I was re-thinking that idea. If I told her, she might think it was because I wanted her to stay and I didn't want her to go to Stanford. It was in California and I didn't have to be a Brainiac to know that was on the other side of the country.

"Are you going to stay anything?" Her voice was so small that if I was sitting next to her, I wouldn't have heard her at all.

I didn't think my stomach could sink any more, but then I looked at her face. She looked sad and her lips were cast down and her eyes were kind of glossy and she kept blinking and I don't know why, but I got the sudden urge to sing.

So I reached out for her and pulled her against me as I bit the inside of my cheek from feeling her shake slightly and with my lips pressed to her ear, I started singing the first song that came into my head.

"_**When I see your face...There's not a thing that I would change...Cause you're amazing...Just the way you are...And when you smile...The whole world stops and stares for a while...Cause girl you're amazing...Just the way you are..."**_

She pulled back and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and asked, "What does _that_ have to do with me going to Stanford? Shouldn't you be singing like – I don't know – something from the _Say Anything_ soundtrack?"

"I don't know; that was just the first song that I came in my head. But, like, don't think I'm saying all that to get you to stay. Cause that's not what I'm doing. I swear! Like on my original copies of my comic books and my PS2! Anyway...Um, you know how I said earlier your knees were hot? Well, that's just like – you know – the tip of the iceberg. You know what I mean? Everything about you is hot and way awesome. You're like amazing, Tina. Seriously."

"You're babbling." She pointed out and I could feel myself getting red again.

"Do you remember when we were laying up here when your parents were away on that doctor conference thingy? And we...um...We you know..."

"Had sex?"

"Yeah." I licked my lips nervously as I stared into her big brown eyes and I was _really_ starting to sweat as I tried to put my thoughts into words.

"Before that, when we were just laying up here and you were all curled up against me and I was stroking your hair and stuff, I kept thinking about how _pretty_ you are and how much I like your smile and how I wanted to memorize everything I ever did to make you smile just so I could see it all the time. And um, I thought about how soft you feel and how cute your laugh is and how I like it _even_ more when you giggle. And then I started thinking about your hair and all the different streaks you put in it, but how I like it best when it's just black and then I thought about how much I liked touching your knees and how I like kissing the little birth mark on your right boob..."

I swallowed thickly and before I could stop myself, I told her, "What I'm trying to say is...All that stuff...It made me realize that I love you, Tina."

I didn't give her the chance to say anything, I just kept on talking. "And – you know – there's not a thing that I would change about you. Like how smart you are. You were a Brainiac at McKinley and even though I didn't know what that was until the whole "Night of Neglect" fundraiser thingy Mr. Schue and Ms. Holiday had us do, that's super awesome that you're that smart. I like that you're smart and into books and all that. It's cute and it's just so you. And I love you."

"Y-you...Y-y-you l-ll-love me?"

"You don't have to say it back or anything. I just...I couldn't keep it inside anymore, you know? So um, I didn't."

"I want you to kiss me right now and then I want you to tell me you love me again."

That wasn't what I expected her to say if – you know – I expected her to say anything at all, but um, I was never going to turn down the chance of kissing her, so that's what I did. I kissed her harder and softer and warmer and more intense than I had until then and she kissed me back the same way.

Our tongues tangled and then I pulled back and I told her I loved her again and then just before she kissed me again, she whispered in a voice that almost made it seem like she was singing, "I love you too," and then we were back in her room, on her bed having sex before I blinked.

Afterwards when we were all tied up together in the purple of her sheets, she busied herself with making all kinds of drawings on my chest with her fingers as I kept squirming and trying not to laugh. Her parents were at some cocktail party and wouldn't be back for awhile, so I at least didn't have to worry about being quiet.

"Stop." I told her, but she just shook her head before she reached over and linked our fingers together.

"You usually sing to me and I like it when you do, but I figured _this time_ I'd return the favor, Frankenteen."

Her voice was soft and kinda husky as she sang a song I didn't recognize, but it was one I would remember (though, I didn't know it at the time, duh) for along time afterwards.

_**(Just to stay like this**_

_**In the give of your lips**_

_**In the dim of your half-light dawn**_

_**Pinned below your undertow**_

_**When everything meant everything again) ("Sing Me Sweet" - by Matt Nathanson)**_

_**(A little bit of something**_

_**Maybe just a way home**_

_**Way home, way home)**_

_**(Sing me sweet**_

_**Sing me low**_

_**Say you'll never let me go**_

_**Sing me sweet**_

_**Say you'll never let me go**_

_**Never let..."**_

_**Song used "Sing Me Sweet" by Matt Nathanson**_


	6. Chapter Five: The Rush

_Author's Note: This chapter is rated M, so if that's not your thing, go ahead and skip it. Also, this is my favorite chapter that I've posted so far, so drop me a review and tell me if you liked it as much as I did._

**~*~Chapter Five: The Rush~*~**

**Day 115**

_**There's only us/To keep it between**_

"_**The Rush" - by Dashboard Confessional**_

_**Tina's POV -**_

Since my roommate Erica's boyfriend James had taken her down to L.A for the weekend (he was a sophomore) at UCLA, I was alone in our dorm room and I planned to take full advantage of that fact.

I wasn't the type of girl who would bitch and moan (and why would I want to be?) about her boyfriend being away at a different college in another state, but silently I could admit how much I missed Finn. It sort of surprised me how much I did because I wasn't really the sentimental type. But it was like I told Mercedes – what now seemed like ages ago – he was different.

Different in a good way, of course, but different nonetheless.

I felt a little strange and a lot nervous considering what I was about to do, but as I looked down at myself in this Cleveland Indians blue V-neck T-shirt that said _Take Me Out To The Ball Game _and grey hipster panties that said _Meet Me In The Dugout_, I figured this was as sexy as it was going to get.

Cause, um, yeah the other stuff Mercedes had been pointing out at Victoria's Secret, the day before I went to Stanford to wear for Finn, was _so_ not happening.

It was all lacy (and I like lace, don't get me wrong) and see through and pink. Ugh. And the purple stuff they had wasn't really purple; it was more like lavender and their black stuff...It would have made me look like I was working in an Asian whorehouse cleverly titled "massage parlor."

This was sexy Tina Cohen-Chang style; a T-shirt and hipster panties.

Shrugging absently, I moved toward the makeup area Erica and I had set up for both of us and I messed around with my hair for what felt like forever. I was totally stalling and I knew it, so eventually I just gave up and let it hang down on my shoulders.

It was already pretty late in Ohio so if I was going to have phone sex with my boyfriend it was now or never. Well, maybe not "never" in the sense of the definition that was in the dictionary, but it wasn't happening _tonight_ if I didn't call him, like, _now_.

Pressing speed dial number two, I climbed onto my bed as I listened to the dial tone ring in my ear over and over. I stretched my legs out underneath me and I could feel my stomach getting heavy as I started to sweat just a little. I had never done anything like this before and I was beyond nervous, honestly.

"Wha..." I heard the sleepy mumble come through the receiver and I sighed bitterly.

Of course I woke him up. The first time I plan on having phone sex with him and I wake him up. I swear this stuff would only happen to me.

_Fuck my life._

"Sorry." I murmured, disappointment creeping into my voice. "I knew it was late, but I figured you would be awake anyway. Just forget I called, okay?"

"Tina?" He seemed a little more alert and I could hear the rustling of papers and books in the background.

"Yeah, it's me." I let out a sigh before sitting up against the mountain of pillows that were acting as the headboard of my twin bed. "Like I said, I thought you'd be up, but since it's obvious you were asleep, can you just tell me you love me and forget I called?"

"Forget you called? Why would I do that?" I didn't have to see him to know he was doing his adorable blinking puppy thing as he scratched the side of his head while his brows knitted together in confusion.

Even though, we had been saying I love you for awhile and we even broke up for two months (don't ask; _seriously_, just don't), it still kind or scared me – or at least threw me – how well I knew him and how I had memorized his facial expressions.

"Because you were asleep and I woke you up." I said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It's not like there's a big emergency going on over here. I'm just – you know – bored and Erica's off with her boyfriend in L.A so I don't have anyone to talk to and I really don't feel like doing Trig right now."

"Sleep can wait." His voice was earnest and warm, and I knew what he was doing.

He was trying really hard to make up for the two months that we weren't together so he was going to stay on the phone with me even though he probably wanted to go back to sleep. My heart fluttered inside because that was such a Finn thing to do.

"You don't have to stay up to help me combat boredom, okay? I know you love me." My voice grew softer when I said that. "You don't have to prove it."

There was a long pause on the other end and I imagined he was biting the inside of his cheek in concentration as he debated what to say next. The way he sighed made me imagine his breath, hot and spicy (he liked to chew Big Red gum and _only_ Big Red) on my face just before he kissed me, and I swallowed hard as I remembered the many times I would feel it against the very heart of me; whether it was through my panties or right against my naked skin.

"I feel like I have to prove it." He told me and I swear I could feel the most intense heat rush straight to my core, which made me squirm and slide further down my bed.

"Why?" I asked, my fingers toying with the hem of my shirt.

"Cause you're like the _best_ thing that's happened to me ever. I know I told Quinn I loved her and yeah, I loved Rachel too, but with you it's different. It's harder, it's louder, it's deeper...It's just more, you know what I mean? It's just, like, more than it's ever been with anyone else. I'm not that good with words and stuff, but that's like the only way I know how to explain it. Everything's just more with you, Tina."

His voice got hoarse and husky when he said my name and slowly I could feel my skin grow warm and my nipples start to pucker. He said he wasn't good with words, but somehow even though he thought he was struggling and fumbling to verbalize his feelings, I thought he was saying the exact right things.

I knew how he felt and what he meant by _this_ – whatever we were – being deeper, harder, louder and just more.

It was like his words gave me confidence about what I had originally set out to do and the next thing I knew, I was asking him, "What are you wearing?"

My whole body was hot with embarrassment and I wanted nothing more than for my bed to swallow me whole. Part of me couldn't believe I had just asked him that and another part of me was waiting with baited breath to hear his answer, if he did answer me at all.

"Uh..." He blew out a short breath of air and I could hear his fingers sifting through his hair, something I wished mine could have the chance to do. I don't know what it was about his hair, but I just loved the downy strands sifting through my fingers and I loved tugging at them as he thrust or pushed his fingers in and out of me.

But it was more than that.

I loved how they would stick to his forehead and get kind of matted down when they were wet or how when he woke up they would be sticking up in every direction. Or how he tried to slick them back the first time he met my parents.

I just _fucking_ loved his hair. It was like his thing with my knees and my hands. Except less weird.

Though, I did, for some reason really like his feet; even though they were ginormous.

His voice stopped my inner musings, when he answered my question. "Um," I could hear him stop to lick his lips and I felt the first beads of moisture start accumulating at the apex of my thighs. "My Captain America shorts."

My eyes couldn't help go wide as a memory flashed into my head.

I only got _wetter_ as I remembered stripping those very boxers off of him the first time I ever had him in my mouth. I had surprised him by getting down on my knees and unbuttoning his jeans and pushing them down (roughly, if I remember right) before I took them all the way off and when he realized what I planned to do, his eyes went wide and he let out this low moan of satisfaction and encouragement.

"You are talking about _the_ Captain America boxers from the first time I..." I trailed off purposefully and made my voice as breathless as I could; hoping I didn't sound like a complete idiot or worse a phone sex operator on her first day.

He sucked in a breath and let out the same low moan from that day. "I d-don't h-hh-have aa-another pair." He stuttered and I felt my thighs clench as my eyes fluttered while the memory continued playing out inside my head.

"You wanna know what I'm wearing?"

"T-Tina, are we...Are...Is this..." He was stumbling over his words and I know we were both supposed to be sexy right now, but I liked him just like this – stumbling and a little embarrassed – because that meant he was being Finn and that's who I wanted.

If I wanted someone with confidence and swagger, I would have called Puck. And seriously, uh, I said in my head; recoiling at the thought of the badass who underneath it all was really just a marshmallow, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, he ended up finishing his sentence in a rush. "Are we h-having pp-ph-phone s-sex?"

I took in and let out several deep breaths before I answered him, sort of. "D-do y-you w-want to have pp-phone s-sex?" 

I cursed inwardly for stuttering and acting all cautious and afraid. It's not like my parents were going to suddenly walk into my dorm room and start cursing at me in Chinese because they caught me about to have phone sex with my boyfriend.

Like I said before; fuck my life.

He was so cute and sweet when his voice came back on the line and he said softly, "I know I'm supposed to be all like _hell yeah_ I wanna have phone sex cause I'm like a dude and all, but um, if you don't want to or you change your mind or whatever, that's cool. I don't like wanna pressure you and stuff. Cause that – pressuring you and stuff – is so not cool."

"You're such a dork." I teased, hoping that would lighten the mood and when he laughed, I knew I had succeeded. "ANYWAY...Do you want to know what I'm wearing or not, Frankenteen?" I pretended to sound off put that he hadn't answered me.

"Yeah." I he breathed out. "I wanna know what you're wearing, Tina."

I licked my lips as I sucked in a breath and imagined that I had just pulled back from his kiss. I couldn't get the real thing so my imagination would have to do and I must have a pretty damn good one cause I swore my lips actually tasted like the hint of spice from his Big Red, the sugar from the strawberry Pop Tarts he always ate for breakfast and that something that was just him.

_**(Taste**_

_**I love the taste**_

_**I need this warm rush) ("The Rush" - by Dashboard Confessional)**_

"Do you remember when Cedes was teasing you about taking me to Victoria's Secret the day before I left for Stanford? I'm wearing what I bought that day. It's this Cleveland Indians V-neck T-shirt and hipster panties. I wouldn't wear anything else they had there," I admitted, my cheeks flushing bright. "And until I saw this stuff, I thought I wasn't going to buy anything. Thank God they had your favorite team. Otherwise I'd be telling you I'm wearing yoga pants and a gross beat up tank top. Or my Hello Kitty or panda flannel pajamas. And um, yeah, neither of those choices is exactly hot."

"It's be hot to me." He murmured, his voice sounding just a little strained. "And I know it's corny and if Puck heard me say this, he'd say he would rather have Sam as his boy, but I wouldn't care...Cause even in yoga pants and a beat up tank or Hello Kitty or panda flannels, you're hot, okay? So don't ever think you gotta be wearing something lacy and skimpy for me."

"I thought phone sex was supposed to be hot and breathless and stuff?"

We both laughed at my observation, but once the laughter died down; it got hot and breathless for both of us.

_**(Rush**_

_**I need the rush**_

_**To pulse through my veins)**_

My cheeks only flushed brighter when he murmured into the phone, "I'm n-naked right now, and I'm kinda hoping you'll get naked too."

I sat the phone on one of my pillows and pulled my shirt over my head and immediately my nipples got hard from the cool air that was swirling around my dorm; though, it did nothing to cool me down, I couldn't help but observe.

With the phone pressed against my ear again, I let out a shaky breath and did my best to play coy. "I took off my shirt, but not my panties. You're gonna have to do some work before I do that. So tell me, Finn, what would you do if you were here right now..." I swallowed thickly, my eyes fluttering and my other hand drifting to the outer curve of my left breast, ready to squeeze and tweak and palm as soon as he started talking again.

"Oh, God..." He groaned and heat flared deep in the pit of my stomach as I imagined him lying on his bed in his dorm room, naked and hard, and poised to touch himself just like I was.

_**(And I'll love you tonight**_

_**Oh I'll love you tonight**_

_**And tomorrow you may just**_

_**Feel the same)**_

"I w-would...I...Damn, Tina." He cursed before taking a moment to regroup.

"I'd kiss you." His voice was soft and it seemed to float into my ear in a way that made me shudder from head to toe. "And you'd kiss me back in that way that's hard and soft and then you'd slowly open your mouth so my t-tt-tongue could go inside before I pulled back first. Then I'd touch one of the stars on your neck with my tongue s-ss-so I could hear you giggle, and then I would lick the b-bb-bone between your boobs and you'd squirm underneath me."

My nipples were getting progressively harder, the heat that flared in my stomach was spreading everywhere else and my thighs kept clenching over and over as I could feel myself getting wetter and wetter.

My teeth bit hard into my lip, so hard, I was a little stunned that I didn't taste the iron bitterness of blood, but that moment was the last time I would think about anything other than the sound of Finn's voice and moving my free hand lower and lower.

_**(Please don't bite down**_

_**I will know I'm alive)**_

By the time he talked about how he liked kissing the birth mark (it was shaped like a heart I guess) on the outer curve of my right breast, my panties were half way down my thighs; low enough that I could slip my fingers in and out of myself, but not completely off.

I could have taken them all the way off, but that meant getting off the phone and it was too late in the game for that. Half way down was just going to have to be good enough.

"If I asked you to, would you touch yourself?" His voice was timid and the concern he had inside of himself not to push me in an uncomfortable direction made my heart flutter.

I didn't think I could blush any harder, but somehow my cheeks were getting warmer. I had every intention of touching myself (duh, that was the point of phone sex), but when he asked me I felt myself getting shy as the _magnitude_ of what we were doing seemed to set in all of the sudden. "Um..."

"You can say no, but um...I w-would...It'd be nice if you would. It be better than nice; it'd be way hot."

He let out a short bout of laughter before his voice took on a soft tone that made it sound like he was going to reveal a deep, dark secret. "I've kind of imagined you touching yourself in front of me. Not like all the time, but sometimes when I dream about you, you do that; touch yourself, I mean."

"Y-you dream about me?" I didn't think I'd be able to find my voice with the lump that was forming in my throat, but I did.

"Yeah." He whispered. "We um...We can touch ourselves together?" He suggested and I could feel giggles bubbling up in my throat.

I imagined his boyish face bright and earnest and eager, and I wasn't turning down his offer. I had pushed for this and my body was twisting and tightening and so hot and aching that I was desperate for my release, and this was the only way.

"It's just me and you. No one else is around. Every time you push a finger inside, I'll be moving my hand up and down."

"Okay." My breathing was shaky and I wasn't as confident as I wanted to be, but with his voice in my ear telling me how he was touching himself too, made me believe I could do this.

_**(Rush**_

_**There is no rush**_

_**There is no reason**_

_**To blush**_

_**There is only us**_

_**To keep it between)**_

_**(And I'll love you tonight**_

_**I will love you tonight**_

_**And tomorrow we may just feel the same)**_

_**(And I won't bite down**_

_**Till the moment counts)**_

We're sort of talking, but we're sort of not; every once in awhile between the harsh breathing and cursing, one of us will say something, but it's not like we're having an actual conversation.

I can feel my walls clenching more and more around the three fingers that are inside of me, and at the tip of my spine I can feel this electric kind of tingling that starts just before I cum, and I'm breathing harder and my heart's beating faster and my head is swirling, and it's all just _so much_ to take.

But it's nothing compared to the moment when Finn let's out this familiar long, exaggerated groan followed by a sigh of pure satisfaction as he whispers, "I can tell your close. I know cause you're breathing sounds really hard and I bet you're flushed with his pretty pink and you feel kinda sweaty, and if I was on top of you like I w-ww-want to be, we'd sort of be sticking together and w-ww-with one last thrust, I would have cum inside you."

_Oh, God_ is all I could think as my orgasm takes over and my whole body is shuddering with that electric kind of tingling he inspires inside of me every time. Over and over, I continue pumping my fingers in and out, wishing desperately that he was filling me up and I was riding out the aftershocks with his large hands on my hips, guiding me and stroking me while his lips kissed me everywhere.

My breathing wasn't as hard after awhile and slowly, I pulled my fingers out and my face couldn't help but scrunch because of how sticky and slick they were.

But I didn't waste time thinking about that much longer because his voice came back on the line shadowed by heavy panting, "T-t-that was the hottest thing _ever_; hearing you cum, knowing you were making yourself as you touched yourself! Like whoa!"

I giggled slightly as I fought to keep my eyes open; suddenly I was sleepy and all I wanted to do was curl into his warm, hard and soft body. I could imagine him pulling my panties back up, his fingers lingering along the rim and maybe digging in between my soft triangle of curls just to tease, and then he'd help me back into my shirt before wrapping me up in his arms and kissing me softly.

How I let him go – even if it was just for two months – I'll never know, and I'll never let myself live it down either. My eyes stung with tears, but I wouldn't let them fall. I had him back and that was all that mattered.

"Sing to me." I pleaded hoping he wouldn't pick up on the sadness I could hear in my voice.

"Are you okay?" I imagined his face bathed with concern, thin lips down turned and soft brown eyes blinking over and over while his head was tilted as he silently urged me to tell him what was bothering me.

"I'm perfect." I didn't like saying that, but in this moment, I was perfect.

Sure, I was a mess; my panties were hanging down my thighs, my hair looked like it was caught in a hurricane from all the thrashing my head had done, my face probably looked like I had run a marathon and I was sticky and sweaty, but that didn't matter.

He made me feel perfect.

And he must have believed me because the last thing I heard was his voice – soothing and warm – singing the _Dashboard Confessional _song "The Rush;" a song I sang to him when I drunk dialed him while we were broken up.

I sort of laughed even though it sounded more like a yawn and he stopped to laugh too and to tell me he loved me, and just before I fell asleep, I told him I loved him too.

_**(And I'll know I'm alive**_

_**And I'll know I'm alive**_

_**Give me some teeth**_

_**Give me something unforgettable**_

_**And I'll know I'm alive)**_

_**(And I'll know I'm alive**_

_**And I'll know I'm alive**_

_**And the moment's right)**_

_**(And I'll know I'm alive**_

_**And I'll know I'm alive**_

_**Give me some teeth**_

_**Give me something unforgettable**_

_**And I'll know I'm alive)**_

_**(And I'll know I'm alive**_

_**And I'll know I'm alive)**_

_**Song used "The Rush" by Dashboard Confessional**_


	7. Chapter Six: Birthday Awesomeness

**~*~Chapter Six: Birthday Awesomeness~*~**

**Day 23**

_**I'm gonna steal your heart/Gonna steal your heart away**_

"_**Steal Your Heart" – by Augustana**_

_**Finn's POV –**_

I wasn't good at like planning stuff.

I'm – you know – more like a fly by the seat of my pants kinda guy.

_Kurt _plans stuff and that's why I was asking him to help me do something nice for Tina's birthday.

I had stuttered a lot, my hands and arms sort of flailed around before I finally plopped onto my bed and looked into his grey eyes and asked, "So you'll _totally_ help me right, man? Cause if you don't help me I'll have to ask Puck since he's my bro and all, and um, I think he'll just say buy some wine coolers and lube and yeah…"

He arched a sculpted brow and flicked imaginary dirt from his fingernails before narrowing his eyes at me in a way that was _totally intimidating_ even though I was like a _foot taller_ and probably _outweighed _him by like 20 pounds.

"And you're asking _me_ because? Don't you know you're supposed to be asking _Mercedes_ to do this sort of thing for you? She is Tina's best friend, Finn."

"Yeah, I thought about that, but she'll ask me all kinds of stuff like why do I wanna do something nice for Tina's birthday, when did we start hanging out, if I like her," I could feel my cheeks and neck getting more and more red as I stammered. "And um, to be honest, Mercedes kind of scares me. Like what if I say the wrong thing? She might beat me up! I mean seriously how is Mike not a walking bruise when it comes to maybe slipping up or whatever? Have you seen the way she hits him sometimes?"

"And you don't think I'm going to ask you all of _those_ questions?"

I bit my lip for just a second and I looked at Kurt hopefully as I rubbed the back of my neck. "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't."

"Well, that's too bad because _I am_ going to ask you _those_ questions. And I'm not going to help you woo Tina until you tell me when all of this – whatever it is – between you two started."

"Woo?" I sputtered, my eyes going wide as panic rushed through me. "I d-don't … That's not what I'm asking. I just want to do something nice for her. She t-told me that she didn't want a big p-party for her birthday and you got mad about it, but she shouldn't not celebrate her birthday, you know? That's like Un-American or something, right? But I don't want to make her _like me __**like me**_ or anything like that."

"You're a very _unconvincing_ liar, Finn. So," He sat on the edge of my bed, crossing one leg over the other and placing both hands in his lap silently he was telling me he wasn't leaving until I spilled my guts. "Start from the beginning. How exactly did you and Tina start," He unclasped his hands to use air quotes, "Hanging out," and then put them back in his lap.

"I don't know." I knew that wasn't really an answer except it kind of was the answer. Like I didn't know when we started hanging out; we just kinda did.

Though, I guess technically or whatever, we started hanging out the night of graduation.

I could feel my lips twitching at the sides as I thought about that night; how I saw her tattoo, how she told me she likes looking up at the stars, how her small hand felt in mine and the shiver that went through me when her leg brushed mine as we laid on the grass.

Yeah, that night was _awesome_.

"Uh…I guess we started hanging out the night of graduation?" I supposed to be answering Kurt, but my answer came out more like a question, which he called me out on.

"Are you asking me when you and Tina started your strange foray into friendship? Or are you telling me it was on the night of graduation when her intriguing Gothic sweetness was suddenly heightened by the buzz of the beer you were drinking, the humid summer air, the twinkling stars and the hollow yellow glow of the waxy moon and she had pulled you in like never before?"

"What?"

Kurt sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "You noticed her boobs for the first time, right?"

After he said that, it was like everything clicked in my head. "Yeah!"

Before he could say anything, I said a lot more. "But it wasn't just that I noticed her boobs."

At the look of disbelief on his face, I defended myself. "Seriously! I'm talking about _more_ than just Tina's boobs, man! Like I saw her tattoo – you know the stars on the back of her neck and stuff – and she told me about how she likes to go on her roof and look at the stars sometimes. And then a couple weeks ago or whatever we ran into each other at the park and we were gonna go get ice cream but it started to rain and we hid out in this bookstore she goes to all the time…"

"The Reading Tree," Kurt interrupted and I nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! That's the one! And the old Asian dude who runs the place made us tea so we wouldn't freeze and die and then she started reading to me from this book she likes a lot called _Lady Chatterley's Lover_, but I made her stop cause it was sexy and stuff and then she picked out _Treasure Island_ and she read to me from that and it was nice. She's nice."

"_Nice_?"

Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair and I noticed how my hand was kinda shaking. "Ugh! Okay, fine, she's more than nice!" I shouted just wanting this to be over.

"Tina's cool, man." I admitted, lowering my voice. "I feel bad that I never noticed before, but um between _Rachel_ and _Quinn_ like how could I? But we're hanging out now and I like it. I…" My voice was quieter when I said, "I like her."

Kurt nodded and a slow smile came to his lips and his eyes kinda twinkled, which told me he was so on board for helping me. Fist pump!

"You didn't spend your entire first paycheck from the garage on _comic books_ and _video games_, did you?"

"Why do you have to say it like that? Just because you think comics and video games are soul sucking or whatever it is you say, doesn't mean they're _not_ awesome. Cause they _so_ are. But no, I haven't spent any of my money yet. I saved it," My whole face was getting super red again as I admitted, "Cause I thought you'd eventually corner Tina into having a party and I wasn't showing up without a present and stuff."

I held my breath as I waited for Kurt to laugh or make fun of me, but instead he patted my knee with his hand and I said, "I have the _perfect_ and I do mean _**perfect**_ idea for what you should get Tina for her birthday. Just don't screw it up, Finn. If you do, I'll sic Mercedes on you."

The next day which wasn't Tina's birthday – that was still two days away – we were walking to the Reading Tree and I was surprised I hadn't thrown up yet. I was totally nervous.

I knew Kurt said his plan was Finn-proof and all, but I had this weird knack for screwing stuff up; like the time I broke Rachel's nose during junior year after Mr. Schue made us go to booty camp to get better at dancing.

"Are you okay?" Tina asked her brown eyes looking up at me. "Because _honestly_ Finn you look like you're going to throw up. You're all pale and I can feel your hand shaking every time it brushes against mine."

"I um…I…" I didn't know what to say, but thankfully my stomach kind of rumbled and I breathed a sigh of relief saying, "I forgot to eat breakfast today. I was all nervous about asking Burt for the day off so I could hang out with you and stuff and I just forgot. He's like my step Dad and all so I don't want any of the guys thinking he gives me special treatment or whatever."

"You asked for the day off to hang out with me?" Her eyes blinked and a soft kind of pink crept into the apples of her cheeks as she bit down on her lip. "Wow." She murmured.

"Y-you sh-shouldn't have done that! What the hell is wrong with you?" Suddenly her voice was louder and she shook her head at me before punching me hard – like Mercedes hard – in the shoulder.

I tried not to wince; cause like what kind of dude winces after a girl hits him? Even if it was – you know – as hard as Tina just did. Rubbing the spot where she punched me, I looked at her from under my eyelashes – kind of like the way she looks at me sometimes – and I told her, "I know you didn't want to do anything crazy for your birthday, but I had kind of been saving my paycheck from the garage in case Kurt like took your toe socks hostage or something until you had a party, and um I still wanted to get you a present."

"You're not buying me a book, are you?" She questioned, arching perfectly shaped brow.

"Maybe." I answered as I held the door open for her.

As we walked inside, Mr. Phan immediately came up to us and though he was talking super fast I still managed to figure out what he was saying, "Oh! Tina and Tina friend you are just in time for Story Time in the Children's Corner. Hurry, though, you know Story Time doesn't wait for late comers."

"Awesome." I nodded as I grabbed for Tina's hand and lead her to the back of the store where the Children's Corner was.

"Story Time? My present is Story Time?" She wondered, her eyes glimmering and her voice shadowed by giggles.

"Sort of." I shrugged as we sat down in the circle with parents and little kids. "Now be quiet. I wanna hear the story."

She laughed and nudged at my shoulder before the reader – Alison – told us to introduce ourselves with an adjective that matched the first letter of our first name. I was _Fumbling Finn_, which made everyone laugh but _most importantly_ made_** her**_ laugh and she was _Terrific Tina_, and then she showed everyone the book…_Goodnight Moon_ and I could hear her gasp from right next to me.

"How did you…" She wondered, her voice the kind of breathless that made my stomach twist. Her eyes drifted from mine and she kind of messed with her hands and then she leaned in and kissed my cheek and a spark, like, surged through me as she murmured, "Thanks, Frankenteen. This is awesome."

After Alison was done reading the book, she took out this old record player and told everyone to stand up because it was time to sing and dance to the _"Goodbye Song,"_ and then Tina turned to me and held out her hand expectantly.

"Don't just stand there, Fumbling Finn," She said as she swayed her hips from side to side (whoa!). "It's time to sing and dance to the "_Goodbye Song_."

With her hand in mine and our fingers linked together, we spun each other around and laughed and wiggled along with the kids and their parents until the song was over and we were the only ones left in the back of the store. It was then that I looked at her. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were big and bright, her lips were stretched into this big smile and her hair was tumbling all over her shoulders from the way she had been shaking her head.

She looked _so_ pretty. Like _seriously_ pretty.

"This was a pretty great birthday present. Don't tell Kurt cause he'll swear up and down on Chanel or Marc Jacobs or whatever that it just can't be true, but this was better than any party."

"There's one more thing, though," I told her and she clapped her hands together and hopped up and down like a little girl, which made her look so cute as she chirped, "We're getting ice cream?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, we're not getting ice cream. Or maybe we can later cause I'm still kinda hungry from not eating breakfast, but um right now…You're getting a book."

She blinked at me and said slowly (sounding sort of like me when I was trying to figure stuff out), "I'm getting a book?"

"Yeah. That's um, your birthday present. I'm buying you a book."

My heart became suspended in my chest and my throat closed up as I waited for her to say something, anything. Her heart shaped face softened and this small, but soft kind of smile came across her lips as she whispered, "You're buying me a book?"

She giggled and her voice grew louder as she asked, "Seriously?"

"Seriously." I nodded and before I knew it, she took off like a rocket that was a swirl of purple lace (from the tutu skirt she wore) and magenta from the streaks in her hair.

I caught up with her and I figured she would be she would be looking around forever, but she quickly found her book and in this shy kind of way she approached me. Her eyes were hidden behind her long lashes and she sort of stuttered as she showed me the book. "It's _A Separate Peace_ by John Knowles. The main character re-reminds m-me of y-you."

"R-really?"

"Yeah." She licked her lips and my stomach was doing that twisty thing again from the way they glittered and looked all kissable and soft.

"H-his name is F-Finny and his life was ruled by inspiration and anarchy, and um, he prized a set of rules. They were his own, though, not those imposed on him by other people. It was kind of like when you joined glee club." Her heart shaped face was thoughtful and pretty as she looked up at me with her big soft eyes that had my stomach flip flopping. "You were the quarterback of the football team, but you were determined not to be part of the status quo. It wasn't easy and sometimes it sucked, but you did it anyway. You were a total gleek from day one and that reminds me o F-f-Finny."

"Cool."

I kind of understood what she was saying, but a lot of it went over my head. But really all that mattered was that she liked her book.

I paid for it and then we ended up (after getting ice cream; strawberry cheesecake for her and triple chocolate chunk for me) at her front door. She held her book close to her chest and rocked back and forth on her heels as she murmured, "You didn't have to walk me home."

"Burt would have like _shot me_ with his shotgun if he found out I didn't. He's big on like being a gentleman and stuff. Sometimes – even though he had a car and all – he would walk my Mom home from their dates and she would be all happy and stuff. I thought walking you home would make you happy cause, um, you have a nice…I mean, I…I like your smile." I babbled as I fumbled through the last part and she giggled before she leaned in close and told me, her breath warm against my cheek, "I like your smile too, Frankenteen."

I didn't know why but everything inside my head was screaming at me to move to the left. If I did, her lips would be touching mine and suddenly that's all I could think about; wanting her lips to touch mine.

And so I moved to the left, and it happened.

Her lips were still and I panicked thinking she would go all crazy girl ninja on me for making a move and we wouldn't hang out anymore, but then I felt it; the soft but obvious pressure of her lips against mine and I moved my own, and then we were kissing.

Her lips tasted like a mixture of lipstick I would see her put on and the strawberry cheesecake ice cream she just ate and something that was just Tina, and yeah, it was beyond awesome.

She pulled back first and through hooded eyes, she looked up at me and my heart was beating like crazy as she reached out to brush some of my hair back and murmured, "See ya later, Finny," and then she retreated back into her house.

I stood there unable to move like I was entranced or something by the way her tutu skirt flounced and brushed against the back of her thighs and how her hips swayed to like this rhythm and it was so hot. Running my fingers through my hair, I felt myself growing warmer and warmer and my jeans were just a little tighter then before and as I walked home, I kept thinking; _mailman, mailman, mailman._


	8. Chapter Seven: Come See About Me

**~*~Chapter Seven: Come See About Me~*~**

**Day One**

_**Will you recognize me/Call my name or walk on by**_

"_**Don't You Forget About Me" – by Simple Minds**_

_**Tina's POV – **_

Waking up on the Monday after graduation, I thought, this must be what purgatory or whatever there is between heaven and hell feels like.

I didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do, so in a way it was like waking up on the first day of summer vacation, except I_ wasn't_ waking up on the first day of summer vacation. I _**was**_ waking up on the first day that would precede attending college.

As I let that realization sink in, I felt like a character in some teen drama going through the "transition season" – you know where the kids on the show go from high school to college and stuff – except this _**wasn't**_ _Gossip Girl_ or _Dawson's Creek_, this _**was**_ my life.

Flopping back down on my bed, I winced as the crown of my head hit the wall my bed was pressed up against. Headboards, despite Kurt's insistence that they always added much needed drama to a bedroom, were not my thing. I preferred mounds and mounds of pillows; from the large to the tiniest of the tiny. Pillows were way cooler than any stupid headboard.

My eyes drifted to the ceiling and they were momentarily mesmerized by the slow spinning of the once all white fan I had painted with alternating black and white stripes all the way back in middle school.

Shaking myself out of what could have turned into a really lame re-enactment of _A Clockwork Orange_, but without Alex DeLarge, which would have sucked (_hello, Malcolm McDowell in guy-liner and a top hat, H-O-T, HOT_), and I climbed out off my bed and slipped my feet into my Hello Kitty slippers as I made my way downstairs.

Since my parents were both doctors, I wasn't surprised at the silence that greeted me as I walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I poured myself a glass of orange juice and thought about what I was going to do with myself for the day. Or for the rest of the summer, really.

I thought about calling Mercedes and suggesting we go hang out at the mall, but quickly I decided against it. There was a chance she was already doing that with…Mike. My stomach sunk and my throat suddenly became dry as I tried to swallow the lump forming inside.

It wasn't that I wasn't happy for them; cause I was.

Cedes deserved someone as awesome as Mike and even though, I tried to help him come out of his shell during Schue's duets project in junior year with "Sing" she really helped him during senior year. She helped him so much, he actually performed a solo; no dancing necessary, though he couldn't help but bust a few moves at the end.

Mike and Cedes had something good, something that would survive beyond high school and he and I didn't. That was just the way the ball bounced or whatever.

I held onto that thought longer than I probably should, which inevitably lead me to thinking about Artie so I guess that I meant I intended to make myself cry for three months. Yay.

I left the glass of orange juice on the counter and went back upstairs to my room. Instead of crying my eyes out (like I kind of – okay, like I really wanted to), and I went over to my closet to find something to wear. Settling on my favorite Bauhaus T-Shirt (that thank God hadn't faded yet), one of the few pairs of jeans I actually owned and the only pair of sneakers I owned; high top black Converse All-Stars, of course.

Looking at myself in the floor length mirror that was propped against the far wall of my room, I thought, as I shrugged absently, _At least I don't plan on looking like an Asian Branch Davidian for three months._

Not bothering with my usual routine of applying heavy eyeliner, blood stained lips and colorful streaks of extensions in my hair; I left my face all but bare and pulled my hair into pigtails. Satisfied with the way I looked, I walked out of the house not knowing exactly where I was headed but since Lima was the size of a postage stamp it's not like I was going to suddenly end up in Cleveland or Dayton just by wandering around.

I ended up at the park and immediately I wished I had taken a right on Pine View instead of a left.

I didn't have hawk eyes or anything like that, but the familiar thickness of Artie's chocolate hair and the perfect glossiness of Quinn's soft golden curls were easy to spot; even from my vantage point, which was nearly all the way across from the tree they were sitting under.

The big smile that stretched across his angular face was easy to spot too.

My stomach twisted at the picture they made. They were sitting underneath a tree, together. That meant Artie was out of his chair. And sure enough his chair was propped up against the tree's trunk, well within reach if they decided to leave.

My teeth sunk into my lip and I could feel the edges of my eyes burning again. It was stupid and lame and way too bitter ex of me (especially since I wasn't really bitter at all), but I couldn't stop thinking, _He never got out of his chair for me_.

I was vaguely disgusted with myself for thinking that way and I was obviously so absorbed in my faux bitterness that I didn't notice they were no longer sitting underneath the tree. At least I didn't until I heard Artie's familiar pseudo gangsta voice in my ear, which snapped me out of my daze.

"Yo-yo, T! How's it hangin'?"

Turning to face him, I swallowed thickly and gave the mismatched pair a tight lipped smile. I hoped neither would notice, but I should have known better; nothing ever got by Quinn. Especially when she was in the presence of a current boyfriend's ex. Nearly every New Directions rehearsal – even the ones before Baby Gate happened – told me so.

Her sage colored green eyes narrowed as she pointedly arched an impeccably manicured brow. "Are you going to answer him? Or is he going to have to guess how you are?" She scoffed as she shook her head, soft golden curls falling smoothly around her slim shoulders. "I mean really is how's it hangin' that _hard_ of a question for you to answer, Tina?"

Suddenly I was overwhelmed by the urge to punch her in the face. Not that I actually would cause I wouldn't, but I was seriously thinking about it.

"_Woman_!" Artie shouted, his head tilted back so he was staring up at her. "Slow your tootsie roll. If either of us should be ready to throw down over an ex boo creepin' around, it should be me; not you. So tell Frankenteen and Trouty Lips, I've got mad skillz with my chair, a'ight?"

"We'll just have to agree to disagree about that." Her posture was stiff and her eyes – even though I wasn't moving – stayed trained on me like the only move I would make would be for Artie's lap or something.

It was uncomfortable to say the least.

"Quinn," Artie coaxed, his voice and facial features going soft as he pulled her around so she was sitting in his lap. "You don't have anything to worry about, okay? I swear on every video game system and every video game I've ever owned, this four eyes only has eyes for you baby girl. Though I gotta say if you wanna get possessive over this," He motioned to his frame and cracked a smile. "I'm d'zown. Cause I won't front; it's hot."

He bowed his head and said quietly, looking up at her from underneath his heavy bangs that covered his forehead, "Especially since you're not just out of my league, you're out of my universe."

Her pink pout turned upwards and a faint blush that was perfectly rosy, of course, colored the porcelain of her sculpted cheeks. Her tiny body fit snugly against his as she reached up to push back his bangs that were always falling in front of his glasses and murmured, "I know that logic dictates you should be the insecure one in this relationship, but I can't help it. Behind that fake gangster and those nerdy glasses, is the sweetest boy I've ever known and I'm just afraid one of your ex's is going to wake up and realize how stupid they were for letting you go."

"You don't have to worry about that." Somehow I had found my voice and this caused Quinn's head to snap in my direction.

I don't know how she did it, but she rolled her eyes delicately; I didn't even know that was possible, but I guess it was since I just saw her do it. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and her pink pout was frowning stiffly; both were silent signs that told me she didn't believe a syllable of what I just said.

"Oh, really?" She challenged. "Maybe I don't have to worry about Brittany because it took Blaine transferring during senior year for Santana to finally come out of the closet, but what about you? Are you telling me that between_ graduation_ and _right now_, you've found someone to date?"

I knew if I tried to lie, there was a decent change the stutter I faked (but was still sort of real) would come back, but before I could even think of a passable lie, the sound of the grass crunching under someone's feet could be heard and then a voice that was familiar to all of us entered the fray.

"Yup. That's exactly what Tina's telling you."

Suddenly and strangely, I found myself being pulled into the strong and sturdy frame of one Finn Hudson.

My eyes – that I'm sure were as wide as saucers – darted up to meet his while my heart was beating uncontrollably inside my chest. There was _absolutely_ no way he was going to be able to convince Quinn we were dating. Just the _thought_ of us dating was absurd, if not _completely insane_.

Artie looked between the two of us and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose before clasping his hands in his lap and nodding. His lips were pursed together and slowly he arched a brow. "And when exactly did," He shook his head as if the idea (not that I blamed him) of me and Finn was impossible to comprehend. "_This_," He unclasped his hands to motion at us. "Start?"

"_Funny_," Quinn mused, tone cold as ice. "I was going to ask them the same thing. But I don't have to because I already know the answer; about as long as it took Finn to notice the three of us. After all, he _can't_ resist a damsel in distress. That's why he likes those old timey cowboy movies so much and his room – despite his Mom and him moving in with Kurt and his Dad ages ago – is still covered in that ridiculously childish wallpaper."

The sight of Finn's cheeks flushing red from embarrassment had the urge to punch Quinn in her perfect Barbie face, flaring up again. The urge was fleeting because my mind was suddenly occupied with the feeling of my small hand being engulfed by his large, calloused one and a shiver raced through me; the _same_ kind that I felt when I reached for his hand while we were looking at the stars on graduation night.

I could feel my cheeks grow warm as I bit into my lip momentarily. Releasing the flesh, I took a deep breath and told her, "I was lonely at the graduation party and so was Finn so we talked and at the end of the night, we decided to meet up at the park today just to hang out. We're not dating or anything like that."

My voice was softer and I hoped she understood that what I was saying was true. "I don't want Artie back. Maybe you two are weird together cause you're like a living, breathing Barbie doll and Artie's the prototypical nerd, but you work and you care about each other and that's not going to change because I'm single or whatever."

Part of me didn't want to let go of Finn's hand because his skin was so warm and the roughness of it felt so good against the smoothness of my own, but I didn't want to stick around and argue with Quinn anymore, so I let go; though, I did let my fingers dig into his skin for just a second. Giving her and Artie the nicest smile I could manage, I nodded absently and then walked off; not really having any particular destination in mind.

"Tina! Tina!" I heard Finn shouting my name and my face scrunched in confusion; why exactly was he running after me?

"Wait up!" He called out and out of the corner of my eye I could see his arms flailing around, which made me laugh.

Turning around, I watched as he skidded to a stop, nearly falling over in the process, which only had me laughing more. Arching a brow, I asked, "Is there a reason you were flailing your arms as if I couldn't see you if I turned around when you were yelling my name?"

"Well, like you said, I um kept yelling your name and you didn't turn around or do anything to make it seem like you even heard me," His cheeks flushed and his smile was sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. "So I wasn't sure if you did."

"Finn, you're like _over _six feet tall," My tone implied the obvious as I shook my head. "Only a _747_ or the _Empire State building_ could keep someone from seeing you. The reason I acted like I couldn't hear you is because I didn't think we had anything else to talk about. I figured after I walked away from Quinn and Artie, you would just go back to doing whatever it is you were doing before you walked over to us."

"Oh."

His eyes were downcast as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, and I felt like I had just kicked a puppy. He probably just wanted to make sure I was okay after the awkwardness that was our conversation with Quinn and Artie, and here I was acting like a bitch.

"You don't have to worry about me; I'm okay." I murmured.

"You sure? Cause I know Quinn can be kind of a bitch sometimes and she was really getting in your face for no reason."

"Actually she wasn't getting in my face for no reason." I admitted with a shrug as I fumbled with the edges of my T-shirt absently. "I know what a catch Artie is and I can understand how being in a relationship with him can bring out the insecurities she has but tries so hard to hide or whatever."

"That doesn't mean she gets to act like you're out to steal him back and stuff. He's not me and you're not Rachel."

I blinked and cocked my head to the side, studying him for a few seconds because I was surprised by his intelligent comparison. Shaking my head, I didn't say anything else about Quinn and Artie. Instead, I motioned to the headphones that were hanging from his neck and I injected a playfulness to my voice as I asked, "Lemme guess, you were totally rocking out to _Journey_ before you decided to play hero, right?"

He laughed and his puppy dog eyes brightened, making my stomach flip ever so slightly. "Guess again, Brainiac."

"_REO Speedwagon_?"

"Nope."

"_Foreigner_?"

"Way off."

"_Bon Jovi_?"

He clicked his tongue in disapproval and said solemnly, "And I thought Asians were supposed to be smart."

My eyes narrowed as I could feel my lips turning down into a thin line. I wracked my brain for any other 80's rock bands that just screamed **FINN HUDSON**, and suddenly my lips turned upwards as I said confidently, "_KISS_."

I didn't realize how wrong I was until I felt him reaching for my hand to pull him toward him. I was tense as he wrapped one of his arms around my shoulders so I was pressed tightly into his side and his warmth had my head spinning slightly; something I didn't expect to happen, and I had to suck in a breath to keep calm.

The shiver I felt race through me had my stomach tumbling when he placed one of his earbuds in my ear and I was greeted to the haunting, strained vocals of one Steven Patrick Morrissey. _**"Reel around the fountain…Slap me on the patio…I'll take it now…"**_

With eyes full of surprise, I looked up to see his boyish face looking smug and this (I couldn't believe I was thinking this) cute half smile playing at his thin lips as he looked down at me. "Y-you l-like _The Smiths_?" I sputtered, knowing if I was a cartoon character my mouth would be hanging down by my feet right about now.

I suddenly understood the meaning of the word slack-jawed.

Instead of answering me, he slipped the other earbud into his ear and began singing along with _"Reel Around The Fountain," _loud enough for me to hear even though I still had the earbud in my ear.

"_**Fifteen minutes with you…I wouldn't say no…Oh people see no worth in you…Oh but I do…Fifteen minutes with you…I wouldn't say no…Oh people see no worth in you…Oh but I do…"**_

It was strange how I was noticing just how good his voice sounded.

I mean how many times had I heard him sing in the past three years? But there was something about listening to him singing this old _Smiths_ song with his arm around my shoulders, being pressed so closely to his sturdy frame and seeing his puppy dog eyes all bright and full of warmth, that made listening to him sing different than all the times before.

He nudged me and I looked at him curiously. He stopped singing long enough to mouth, "You sing to," and I could feel my cheeks and neck growing hot.

Shaking my head, I looked away from him, finding my sneakers more interesting, but that only caused him to nudge me again and again. Pulling the earbud out of his ear, I noticed he paused the song because Morrissey's voice wasn't in my ear anymore and he was pouting as he looked down at me, "I don't want to sing alone."

"Fine." I huffed acting off-put even though I wasn't, and his pout quickly turned into his signature goofy grin that reached all the way to his puppy dog eyes.

"_**I dreamed about you last night…And I fell out of bed twice…You can pin me and mount me…Like a butterfly…"**_

This was _supposed_ to feel weird; standing in the middle of the park and singing The Smiths with Finn Hudson, but it felt surprisingly _not_ weird. I don't know exactly how to quantify how I was feeling as we continued singing _"Reel Around The Fountain,"_ but I knew I was smiling so hard my cheeks were starting to hurt.

I also knew I wanted to spend the rest of the day singing Smiths songs with him and that it felt _really_ _good_ to be pressed into the sturdiness of his absurdly tall body.

_**(Meet me at the fountain**_

_**Shove me on the patio**_

_**I'll take it slowly) ("Reel Around The Fountain" by The Smiths)**_

_**(Fifteen minutes with you**_

_**Oh I wouldn't say no**_

_**Oh people see no worth in you**_

_**Oh but I do)**_

_**Song used "Reel Around The Fountain" by The Smiths**_


	9. Chapter Eight: Fina

**~*~Chapter Eight: Fina~*~**

**Day 190**

_**Is it the look in your eyes/Or is it this dancing juice**_

"_**Marry You" - by the Glee Cast**_

_**Finn's POV -**_

Ties were like my _nemesis_ or something.

I _swear_ the stupid scraps of silk have something against me. I don't know what; cause it's not like I ever did anything to them, but it's like they hate me.

Groaning, I made sure to take a deep breath and concentrate really hard as I faced the mirror and prepared to turn the hapless silk into a bow for what felt like the _thousandth_ time. Cause, I mean, really it shouldn't be _this_ hard to tie a tie, right? I mean, Kurt said he's been tying ties since he was like three and if a _three year old _can do it, so can I.

Or maybe I can't.

Again, all I had really done was get my fingers all tangled up. Shaking my head, I asked out loud, "Why can't I just wear it all messy around my neck? I bet that's how James Bond would go to a wedding and nobody would care that his tie was untied. Ugh."

The familiar sound of Tina's bubbly giggles coming from the doorway of my old bedroom caught my attention and I turned away from the mirror. I knew it was corny and I could hear Puck's voice in my head calling me a pussy or asking me when I grew a vagina, but I couldn't help it, seeing her standing there made my breath catch and my heart beat all fast and stuff.

She was always pretty (**duh**), but today she looked, like, I don't know a _different_ kind of pretty standing there in this floaty kind of ruffly dress with all these little hearts on it and a black bow around her waist. Her hair was done in curls and without any streaks and the heels on her feet made her a few inches taller, I guess; I just liked how her toes sort of peeked out cause they were cute.

_Damn Franken-Finn_, the imaginary Puck crowed in my head. _You really have grown a vagina, haven't you? First it's her freaking knees, now it's her damn toes. Ugh. That's it; I'm hanging with Trouty Mouth and Wheels at this shin-dig of Schue's. You are so not my boy anymore._

"You..." I swallowed as she stepped further into the room, the floaty-ness of her dress swaying all around her knees as she walked. "Look really pretty, like _really_ pretty."

"And _you_," She teased, giggles bubbling up. "Would look _a lot_ better if you were were wearing your tie. Lucky for you, I know how to tie one."

"You do?" I sputtered as I blinked rapidly. "But y-y-you're a girl."

"Thanks for pointing that out." She remarked, rolling her eyes. "My Dad wears ties all the time and when I was little I wanted to help him get ready for work like my Mom would, so I learned how to tie them. Just be glad it's _me_ who's doing it and not _Kurt_; he would choke you because you still haven't learned the _fine art_ of tying a tie; let alone a bow tie."

I could feel myself starting to get hot as I watched her bend down to pick up the tie. I couldn't believe I had gone through, like, all of high school without noticing how _awesome_ Tina's ass was. Cause, seriously, even between Rachel and Quinn and losing it to Santana, how could I _not_ have noticed?

Before I knew what was happening, she had the tie in her hands and her arms around my neck. Her nails scraped against the skin my shirt's collar didn't cover up and I shuddered. She was concentrating like I was earlier, but instead of looking like some dork who couldn't tie a tie; she looked _all _hot and smart, and I could feel myself getting hotter.

Her teeth twisted the skin of her bottom lip and it was hard for me not to think about how that would happen when we would have sex.

_Damn_, I cursed. Forcing myself too look anywhere but her face, I had no choice but to start thinking about the mailman. I so was _not _showing up to Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury's wedding with a hard-on; that'd be _beyond_ embarrassing. _Seriously._

"Done." She murmured proudly as she stood on the tips of her toes to reach my ear. "You clean up good, Frankenteen; _really_ good."

"Yeah?" I breathed my throat suddenly tight and dry.

"Yeah." She confirmed, her breath tickling my ear.

Settling back on her feet, it was like we were having a staring contest. We probably blinked or maybe we didn't, I wasn't sure, all I knew was I couldn't stop staring at her. I had seen pretty girls before and all that, but she was just like, a different pretty today. I couldn't explain it, I just knew there wasn't going to be a prettier girl at the wedding; you know, except for Miss Pillsbury cause – you know – she was the bride and all.

"Oh!" A loud gasp made us jump and turn toward the door where my Mom was standing, this giant smile on her face. "You two look so adorable!"

"Mom!" I groaned, my eyes growing wide at the sight of the camera in her hands.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hummel." 

"Don't encourage her." I whispered hotly into Tina's ear, which made her giggle as that bright, happy smile crossed the pink of her perfect lips. "Relax, Finn," She countered. "Let your Mom have her fun; they're just pictures. Now put your arm around me and smile."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes, knowing there was no arguing with either of them. Easily, I brought Tina into my side and it wasn't hard to get caught up in how well she seemed to fit, like she was made to be there or something. She leaned back against me and her smell of jasmine filled up my nose and I breathed it in and it was easy for me to smile as my Mom snapped away.

"Don't you have a step son with a boyfriend to take pictures of?" I questioned after a while, not caring that I sounded like a spoiled little kid.

"You know, Kurt, sweetie, he's a camera hog. If he had his way I would still be taking pictures of him and Blaine." My Mom said laughter in her voice. "Now, just hold still for one more. I don't have enough pictures of you and Tina, and that just won't do, Finnegan Christopher Hudson."

"Oooooh." Tina clicked her tongue teasingly as she shook her head. "You're in trouble, Finnegan Christopher."

"We'll see who's in trouble." I threatened, my fingers immediately digging into her sides, knowing she was ticklish.

She shrieked and squirmed while slapping my hands, but I was determined not to let her get away with being all snarky and teasing. Her laughter was warm and sounded like bells and made me feel, what Brittany called, fuzzies and those butterflies Rachel always talked about, when I finally let up and she collapsed against me, I buried my face in the silken curtain of her black curls and smelled the strawberries from her shampoo.

"Your hair smells awesome." 

"You're lucky you didn't mess up my dress, Finnegan." She emphasized my full name, staring at my darkly through her full lashes."If you did, I would have to go all girl ninja on you, you giant dork." 

"I might be a giant dork, but I'm you're giant dork, Tina Eileen."

Bending down, I pressed my lips to hers before she could say anything. I wasn't really paying attention but I could sort of hear the snap of my Mom's camera. Pulling back, after our tongues tangled briefly (though, I wished it could have been _a lot_ longer), I rested my head against hers and murmured, "You taste awesome too."

Her full cheeks flushed this warm kind of pink and the way her eyelashes fluttered as she breathed out, only made her look even prettier. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip, twisting it a little whispered, "I like the way you taste too."

"Awesome."

She squeezed my hand and moved away in that easy way she did, her dress doing that floaty thing as it sort of bounced against the back of her legs, which I couldn't help but stare at cause they were all shapely and stuff.

"Well, aren't you just perfectly garden wedding appropriate, Miss Cohen-Chang," I heard Kurt say as I stepped off the last step of stairs. "You look absolutely beautiful. I love how you went loose with your curls and just let them hang instead of pinning them up. They compliment the vintage look of your dress wonderfully. You have my full approval."

"Now you can rest easy tonight, can't you, Tina?" Blaine teased; the smile all the glee girls and my Mom called charming on his face.

"_Oh, please_," Kurt dismissed with a roll of his eyes and a wave of his hand. "Trust me, boyfriend, Tina was _not _worried about my opinion. If _I_ was a _6'3 Frankenteen_, she would be worried about what _I_ had to say."

"Yeah," I spoke up as I shook my head. "Cause I would tell her that I didn't like her dress and make her change into something else or something crazy like that."

"I would never..." Kurt started to say before he snapped his mouth shut and then admitted in a huff. "Okay, fine, I would do that. But it doesn't really matter, anyway. If you told Tina she looked hot or whatever it is you straight boys say and she was wearing a paper sack, she wouldn't change."

"Blaine," Tina said sweetly as she batted her eyelashes, ignoring me and Kurt. "Tell me I'm pretty so we can leave, okay? Because honestly, if you don't tell me I'm pretty, I'll have to go home and change and we'll be late for the wedding and then be scolded by Rachel who will lecture us with some ridiculously long soliloquy about being punctual."

The smaller dark haired guy laughed and that charming smile was in place again as he reached out for her hand and placed a kiss against her knuckles, which, like to be honest had me squirming; especially when she giggled and the flush of her cheeks got deeper.

Who the hell did this guy think he was, anyway?

"You look pretty, Tina, very pretty."

"_Now_ I can rest easy. The Joan and Melissa Rivers of Lima," She looked at Kurt with a teasing glint in her eyes. "Gave me _his_ full approval and his perfectly charming and impossibly dapper boyfriend thinks I look pretty, and my own cute and sweet," Her eyes softened when they looked at me and this different kind of smile formed on her face, like it was small and soft and just made them look more kissable than normal. "Boyfriend told me I was really pretty, like, _really_ pretty, which means I have no reason to doubt that I picked the perfect dress for Mr. Schue's wedding."

We ended up being on time for the wedding and with her hand secure in mine, I completely forgot how flirty my brother's boyfriend got with my girlfriend. Not that I was really worried, anyway, cause I wasn't.

After we said high to Mercedes and Mike and Coach Bestie, Kurt and Blaine went to sit in the front with Rachel and Sam while Tina and I sat in the middle with Puck and Lauren.

I know I was _supposed_ to be watching the ceremony and _not_ be able to look away from Miss Pillsbury (who did look really beautiful in her gown and stuff), but I couldn't stop myself from looking at Tina. Her heart shaped face was softly lit from the twinkly lights that were hanging in the garden, her lips were stretched into this big smile and her eyes were all bright and happy, but more bright and happy than I had ever seen them before.

There was just like, I don't know, something about the way she looked that was like mesmerizing or some other really sappy word.

As Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury kissed, she turned and whispered in my ear, "It's so corny, but I really like weddings. They make me feel happy, like you do."

My heart kind of stopped for a second and all I could do was stare at her dumbly and mumble, "For real?"

"For real, for real," She joked, leaning her head against my shoulder as she peered up at me through her eyelashes while reaching for my hand to link our fingers together. "Seriously, though, I meant what I said about weddings making me feel happy like you do, Finn; cause they do."

"Weddings usually just make me nervous because I can't tie a tie and stuff and suits make me uncomfortable and then, you know, when my Mom and Burt got married there was Rachel – not to make it sound like being with her was bad and stuff cause it wasn't – she just, you know, got all caught up in..."

"Planning your whole lives down to her funeral where you would throw yourself into her shallow grave and vow never to love again even if she died when you were like eighty?"

"Were _you_, like, _listening _when she talked about all of that?" I blinked slowly, amazed at how Tina had nailed _Rachel's Rachel-ness_.

"It's not that hard to figure out, Finn." She mused. "Rachel is all about the drama like every diva. You don't think Kurt has his entire future planned out with Blaine? Granted, it's no where near as drastically crazy as the future Rachel has planned for her and Sam, but he totally knows what they're going to name their future children and which one will father them so he can pick out the perfect surrogate."

"That sounds exactly like him." I admitted with a laugh. "So, um, do you..." I sucked in a breath suddenly feeling like I was going to start sweating. "Do you think about that stuff? Like the future, I mean?"

"Yeah." She whispered fiddling with the edge of her dress. "We'd make pretty half-Asian babies, huh?"

I laughed and dropped a kiss against the top of her head just as Puck snapped, "Hey, Fina, break up your disgustingly cute love fest! Everybody's going to the reception. Though, you two probably want to be alone so you can rip each other's clothes off."

"We're in a garden." Tina stated blankly. "Sitting on chairs. Where _exactly_ would we be ripping each other's clothes off?"

"The hell if I know, Girl-Asian." He remarked with a shrug. "Like behind a bush somewhere or a tree. Maybe in Hummel's Navigator. If you _really_ want my boy, _you'll_ find a place to do him. Sides you look like you'd be willing to get freaky..."

"Puck!"

"What, Franken-Finn? I'm just callin' 'em like I see 'em. And you and I both know, if it's _one_ thing Puckzilla knows, it's chicks, and _your chick_, she _totally_ has that _secret freak thing_ going. Cause you know what they say?" He said with a smirk and a wink. "It's _always_ the quiet ones."

"Puckerman!" Lauren practically growled. "If you wants all up in this jelly, you best get yo ass over here now! I'm hungry and I'm not standing in that buffet line behind pansy salad eaters!"

"Catcha later, Fina, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"_Oh. My. God_." Tina groaned, her whole face turning bright red as she buried it in my shoulder. "Tell me _that_ did _not _just happen. There is no way Puck _actually_ believes I'd have sex with you _outside _or in _Kurt's car,_ right? I mean, _I_ don't look like _someone_ who would do _that_, do I?"

Her words were all muffled so I could only really understand some of them and I wasn't sure what to say, so I just lifted her face away from my shoulder and cupped one of her cheeks in my palm. "You look like the girl I want to make pretty half-Asian babies with; that's what you look like."

Her eyes got shiny and for a second I panicked; thinking that I had made her cry or said the wrong thing, but then she blinked and her eyelashes did that humming bird thing and suddenly her lips were pressed harshly into mine and her fingers dove into my hair.

Her lips were eager and warm and awesome just like her tongue and I thought I might pass out as I tried to keep up.

She seemed like she was going to break the kiss and I tugged on her curls, stopping her as I shook my head. "No." I mumbled against the bruised skin of her lips. "Stay."

I don't know how long we kept kissing, but the next thing I knew the reception was over (_seriously,_ I don't even remember leaving the garden) and like this mini-Glee reunion thing had broken out. There was whiskey Puck had stolen that was being passed around and everyone was dancing and laughing and singing and talking; it was like going back in time or something.

And yeah, I know graduation wasn't that long ago, but we weren't all together all the time any more and it seemed like everyone really missed that.

My eyes started to glaze over from the drinking and slowly they settled on Tina who was happily giggling (cause she was the happy girl drunk) with Mercedes as they danced around Mike and Artie who had Quinn in his lap. They were singing a song and doing it loudly, not caring about pitch or key or any of the other confusing things Mr. Schue used to drill into our heads and I got this warm (and it wasn't from the alcohol) feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched her.

"You're totally not staring at your girlfriend's _feet_, right? Cause I'm seeing a really nice pair of gams that Stutterfly's got and I _need_ to know why the fuck you're _not_ looking at them! You are _my_ _boy_, aren't _you_, Hudson?"

Puck's words barely penetrated my haze. Shaking my head, I smiled brightly and told him, "Tina's feet are as pretty as her legs. She's just, you know, pretty; like all over and stuff."

He shook his head in this kind of sad way and smacked my shoulder, hard. "You are _pathetic_, you know that? I gotta go find Trouty Mouth; he'll know what I'm talking about when I say how _fucking great_ Lauren's gigantic boobs are. Cause I know he feels the same way about Berry's boobs even though hers are like way smaller."

"Okay."

"_So_ whipped, so _unbelievably_ whipped." I heard him mutter, but I didn't care. I was happy watching Tina and how happy she looked as she danced around and sang and giggled.

_Yeah, I'd totally make pretty half-Asian babies with her. I'd totally marry her too._

If I was sober and I wasn't, I probably would have been like petrified by that last thought that rushed through my head as I kept watching her be all pretty while she was doing her happy drunk girl thing. Like,_ I_ was not ready to get married and neither was she. _We_ were not ready to get married, but suddenly getting married sounded awesome and not super scary like it always did with Rachel.

All I could think about was if Tina and I got married we'd be around each other all the time. She would move back to Ohio or I would go to California. She could walk around our apartment naked, if she wanted. We could have sex, like, everywhere.

I could sing her to sleep, but she would be right there with me instead of a million miles away.

Yeah, that'd be super mega awesome.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, Frankenteen?" Her voice was a little high and sort of slurred but the bright flush of her cheeks from dancing and the giggling made her look really cute.

"You." I murmured, tucking her curls behind her ear.

"_Me_?" She blinked and quirked her head. "You seemed like you were thinking _pretty_ _hard_, like you had_ big things _going on up there, and you're telling me you were thinking about _me_?"

"I'm still thinking about you. Know why?"

The way she shook her head had her curls falling everywhere like a halo around her head and she was looking up at me with her eyes all big and brown, and all I could see was her looking at me like that as we stood up in front of everyone while we waited to get married.

I know she was sort of drunk and it sounds weird to say that I wanted her to look _this way_ when we got _married_, but I did. I wanted her cheeks to be all bright, her eyes to be big and brown, her lips parted a little and for her heart to be pounding like mine was doing right now.

Resting my forehead against hers, I murmured, "I wanna marry you and make pretty half-Asian babies with you, Tina Eileen Cohen-Chang."

"You're _totally drunk_, Finnegan Christopher Hudson."

"Nah," I dismissed. "I'm _only_ kinda sort of not sober. But it doesn't matter. Even if I was _totally drunk_ or I wasn't _kinda sort of not sober_, I'd still mean what I said. You're so _pretty_ and _awesome_ and I love you _a lot_; like enough to want all of that, you know, the being married and having the pretty half-Asian babies and stuff."

"We're going to wake up tomorrow and not remember any of this Mr-Kinda-Sort-Of-Not-Sober."

"I'm gonna make sure we remember. Cause I'll probably screw up proposing to you for real since I totally suck at planning stuff and I'll probably have to ask Kurt what to do, so count this as proposal attempt number one."

"Finn, what are you..." Her voice faded away as I climbed onto a random table and suddenly everyone was staring at me, but I didn't care.

Maybe I was more drunk than I thought vs being kinda sort of not sober, but whatever. If I was sober, I wouldn't do something like this, but it was too late now. Proposal attempt number one was happening.

I didn't know how I remembered the words to the song, but I was belting them out like I had performed it a hundred times and not just the one time with the whole glee club for my Mom and Burt's wedding.

As I climbed down from the table, I kind of stumbled, but Tina was right there to hold me up and her eyes were soft and glassy as I continued singing but in a much softer voice; so only she could hear. I didn't know if everyone was still staring and I didn't care; her arms wound around my neck and my hands curved along with the flare of her hips I liked so much, and we were dancing.

_**(Don't say no, no, no, no-no**_

_**Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah**_

_**And we'll go, go, go, go-go**_

_**If you're ready like I'm ready)**_

_**(Cause it's a beautiful night,**_

_**We're looking for something dumb to do.**_

_**Hey baby,**_

_**I think I wanna marry you) ("Marry You" - Glee Cast)**_

"You wanna marry me?" She whispered in that breathless way that made it sound like she was signing.

"Yeah." I murmured. "But, like, the next time I ask, I'm gonna have a ring and get down on one knee and Kurt will do all the other stuff. He'll tell me what to wear and where I should be proposing and it'll be awesome. Mercedes will pick out the ring cause she's your best friend and then Puck can really call us Fina cause we'll be all married." 

"I'll be Tina Eileen Hudson when we're all married."

"Tina Hudson..." I mumbled, testing it out on my tongue and I was sure this dumb looking goofy smile was on my face. "Awesome name for an awesome girl...My awesome girl."

"We're really gross, you know that?"

"Yeah. I'd make fun of us...If, you know, we weren't us."

_**(Is it the look in your eyes,**_

_**Or is it this dancing juice?**_

_**Who cares baby,**_

_**I think I wanna marry you)**_

"So whaddya say, Tina Cohen-Chang?" My lips were pressed to her ear and she shuddered, which made my stomach flip flop. "Marry me someday?"

"When you have a ring that Mercedes picked out and are wearing something Kurt told you to?" She teased, her eyes looking like they were dancing from the twinkly lights that were hanging everywhere.

"Yeah, when I've got all that stuff; you'll marry me, right?"

"Yeah." She breathed before turning my head and capturing my lips in a long, hot kiss.

_**(Just say I do,**_

_**Tell me right now baby,**_

_**Tell me right now baby, baby)**_

_**(Just say I do,**_

_**Tell me right now baby,**_

_**Tell me right now, baby, baby)**_

_**(Oh**_

_**Cause it's a beautiful night,**_

_**We're looking for something dumb to do.**_

_**Hey baby, **_

_**I think I wanna marry you)**_

_**(Is it the look in your eyes,**_

_**Or is it this dancing juice?**_

_**Who cares baby,**_

_**I think I wanna marry you)**_

_**Song used "Marry You" originally by Bruno Mars, but as covered by the Glee Cast in episode eight of season two, "Furt."**_


	10. Chapter Nine:Feels Like Tonight Part One

_Author's Note: The Fuinn part of this chapter got away from me, so I had to split this into two parts. Also, I know at the beginning I said each chapter would alternate POVs, but when I was writing this just came out as Finn's POV, so I kept it that way._

_I know some of you in your reviews talked about wanting a Fina engagement and how cute they were, so I hate bringing in the angst, but remember they're nearly on different coasts and attending different colleges, and most importantly no relationship is perfect; as cute as it may be._

_So just, like, don't hate me, okay._

**~*~Chapter Nine: Feels Like Tonight, Part One~*~**

**Day 80**

_**And it feels like tonight/Can't believe I'm broken inside**_

"_**Feels Like Tonight" - by Daughtry**_

_**Finn's POV -**_

When my phone buzzed, I thought for sure it was Tina texting me that her plane had landed at Lima Allen County, but instead it was Quinn. Blinking repeatedly, I looked at my phone like the text was in another language like Alaskan or something.

Why was Quinn texting me? And since when was she, like, even back in town, anyway? She was supposed to be in Boston with Artie, wasn't she?

"Kurt!" I called out from my spot on the couch.

"Must you shout my name all over this house like I am your majordomo?" The smaller boy appeared in the living room's doorway, hands on his hips and eyes narrowed.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Did you like join the Army and forget to tell me, dude? Or did you tell me and I just forgot?"

Shaking his head sadly, he said, "I don't know if I should be amazed or absolutely terrified by the fact that you're serious about whether I joined the Army and didn't tell you or I did tell you and you forgot. Now, before I start moisturizing routine has begun, there is no turning back."

"Uh..." I scratched my head, totally confused by all the words Kurt used. "Um, did you like know Quinn was back in town? Cause like when did that happen? Are we having some glee reunion thingy and nobody told me? Cause why didn't anybody tell me? That is so not cool!"

"Again," Kurt emphasized. "You amaze and terrify me at the same time, and that is quite the feat, I must say. Honestly, I thought only Puckerman could manage that combination of horror, but in the act of full disclosure, his crude observations and non-existent hygiene habits just makes him terrify me. But to answer both of your questions; no, I was not made aware of Quinn's return, and I am positive, it has nothing to do with the non-existent glee reunion you were not informed of."

"Oh." I blinked. "Okay, cool."

When Kurt walked out of the room, I went back to staring at my phone, wishing he was kind of psychic like Rachel always said she was so he could tell me why Quinn would be texting me. It's not like we talked a lot since graduation and stuff.

My phone buzzed again and I wasn't surprised to get an angry text from her. Sighing, I got up from the couch and yelled, "Hey, Kurt, if like Tina shows up, just let her in, okay? I told her I'd pick her up from the airport, but she's not into that chiv-a-chivalri...You know that gentleman stuff Burt's always talking about; cause you know she's all about being a righteous blade of equality and stuff."

"Was it not less than five minutes ago, I told you to stop shouting at me as if I were at your beck and call?"

"Dude," I said my eyes going wide at the green goopy stuff he had all over his face. "You've got a whole bunch of stuff on your face; you might want to clean that off so you don't scare, Tina. Cause if you scared her that would really suck for me and you too, since you know you guys are friends and all."

"Just go see what Quinn wants. I do not have time for your shenanigans right now. Wrinkles I am not meant to have, ever, are already forming, thanks to you, you big dummy."

"What?"

"Ugh!" He groaned in frustration before a sickly sweet smile came to his face. "Yes, Finn, I will be sure to let Tina into the house should she appear on the doorstep. Don't worry; I wouldn't dare keep your girlfriend and my friend out in the cold."

"Thanks, buddy. You're an awesome little bro; even if I can't understand half the words you use and you take forever in the bathroom."

"I'm two months older than you, nitwit." The countertenor muttered as he walked back downstairs to his bathroom.

It was hard to explain the nervous feeling I got in the pit of my stomach as I walked to the park, but I guess – you know, to be honest and stuff – something about Quinn always made me feel like this. For someone so pretty and delicate looking, she could be really intimidating. And yeah, as a duded, maybe I should have never been intimidated by her in the first place, but it was hard not to be. Her stare downs and glares – the die where you stand ones – had sent senior Cheerios running and sobbing in the other direction back when she was a freshman.

Stuffing my hands into the pockets of the puffy vest I was wearing, I approached her slowly like she was some kind of wild animal and could attack at any minute.

"God," She remarked, marching toward me in this angry way. "You don't have to be afraid, Finn. I'm not Santana. I don't need something warm underneath me to digest my food properly!"

"Sorry." I mumbled, looking at my feet instead of her.

After a minute or so, I lifted my head to see her light green eyes narrowing and her lips pursing as she sort of studied me, I guess. Then she shook her head, silken blonde waves falling around her delicate shoulders. "You really haven't changed, have you? You still act as if I'm going to berate you for something, anything just because I can, and you're still wearing those hideous puffy vests that make you look like an overgrown child."

"Is that why you texted me? So you could tell me all of that? Cause, seriously, you shouldn't have wasted the minutes on your phone or whatever."

She sighed as she rolled her eyes and I could see she was fighting hard not to make some nasty remark, but in like a second something changed; it was like this flicker in her light green eyes as they got big and vulnerable and how her whole body tensed before slumping, and then her pretty features weren't scowling and looking all annoyed anymore.

Suddenly, I was totally confused.

"Why did you fall in love with me?"

Okay, now I was even more confused than before.

Blinking at her, I cocked my head as my eyebrows knitted together. "What? Why are you asking me that? Not that you can't tell or whatever, but I'm seriously confused right now. Is this one of those weird TV shows where like all my ex's are gonna show up and I'm going to have to talk about them? You know like when The Bachelor does the "Bachelor Tells All" special thingy? Which I only know about because Kurt roped me into watching it during junior year and stuff."

I added that last part, cause yeah, like I was admitting I actually kinda sort of – okay, that I really liked – The Bachelor.

"Finn, can you please focus? Don't worry about Rachel popping up out of nowhere – considering – she is your only other ex-girlfriend besides me. Unless," She made the word sound longer as she arched a perfectly tweezed blonde brow, slowly. "You're telling me that you and Tina broke up?"

"No!" I sputtered, sounding a lot more defensive than I expected. "That's not what I'm saying. Tina and I are still together, but does any of this – your texting, being here and whatever – have to do with you wanting to know why I fell in love with you?"

Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip and her eyes fluttered away from mine, but I could see them getting this glassy look and my stomach twisted up; she was going to cry, I just knew it. Her delicate frame was shaking slightly and these strained hiccuping kind of noises were escaping her mouth now.

It was never not going to be weird to see Quinn cry.

Crying was just something she didn't do. She had this hard shell around her and she wouldn't let anyone see it crack, and yeah, she had cried in front of me before and stuff, but it always seemed like it was the last thing she wanted to do or something; like she had no choice and she just couldn't hold it in anymore.

Swallowing thickly, I put my hand on her shoulder and I wasn't surprised by her wrenching away from me like she had been burned or something. Sighing, I told her, "You don't have to look away; I've seen you cry before, Q."

"Tell me why you fell in love with me." Her voice was breaking, sobs she was desperately trying to hold back were coming through anyway and a lone tear trickled down her perfectly sloped cheek when she turned to face me, lips quivering. "Please."

"Why?" I pressed, still confused about why she wanted to know. It had been so long since we were together the second time, forget the first.

"I..." Her breathing was tight and uncomfortable as she struggled to talk. "Artie and I had a fight; our first fight and it hurts so much. I've never felt like this before. I hate whatever this feeling is, and I want it to go away, but it's not going to go away because it's over! Artie and I are over! He was telling me how there was this other side to me, how I'm not just vindictive, conniving, calculating and deceitful." She bit out each word as her body shook. "Then I asked him if he wanted me to pretend to be someone I'm not so we could be together and he said no, but I could see it in his eyes; he wants me to be different. He wants..."

"Why don't you just breathe, okay?" My eyes were wide as I steadied her shaking body with my hands on her shoulders. Seeing her like this was really freaking me out.

"The whole reason we're in Lima right now is because he wants me to try and be friends with Tina. That why he was trying to tell me there was this whole other – better – side to me. He knows I was never going to be friends with Rachel, even if you two had stayed together after junior year and she didn't end up with Sam, but he thinks things could be different with Tina. But why would I want to be friends with her in the first place? So we could compare notes about the two of you? Please." She scoffed, swiping at her tear filled eyes.

"It's ridiculous to think that we could be friends. But of course he didn't seem to think so and we fought and now I'm left with this feeling that I hate and I want to go away, and thinking someone is only going to love me in spite of how I am, so that's why I texted you. I had to know why you fell in love with me."

Okay, so I didn't know what to expect – like, at all – from Q's text, but this – telling her why I fell in love with her – was like, the last thing I thought she was going to ask me or whatever.

My head was spinning in a way that made me think I was gonna throw up.

Looking at her now, it wasn't hard to remember why I fell for her. Even with her puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, glassy eyes and her delicate body shaking. Easily, I tucked several strands of her silken blonde hair behind her ear and I smiled softly at her.

"Artie fell in love with you for the same reasons I did, Q. You're smart, you're strong – like next to Kurt – you're probably the strongest person I know, you're dedicated, you don't take anything from anyone, you know what you want and you'll do whatever it takes to get it. Sure, you might not be the nicest when you do that and yeah, you'll step on someone if you have to, but that doesn't make you a bad person. I bet Rachel's doing that on Broadway right now."

She sniffled, but her eyes were warm like she was really laughing and that made my smile grow wider. "Artie's not telling you to be someone you're not, okay? And I don't think he called you all those big words that mean you're a bitch or you're bad or whatever just because he said there's another side to you. He's telling you to be exactly who you are and just let the Q that not everyone gets to see out, once in awhile. There's nothing wrong with that, you know."

Her lips quirked briefly. "If he had said it like that maybe we wouldn't have fought."

"Maybe if you had listened when he tried to explain, you wouldn't have fought." I teased.

"Thank you." She murmured, her fingers reaching up to touch my cheek. "You know how I told you that you hadn't changed and I made it sound bad? Maybe I was a little too hard on you about that because you can still make me feel better, and I never want that to change, Finn."

"There you are!" The sound of Tina's relieved voice made Quinn and I snap our heads to the left. "Kurt was starting to freak out and kept babbling about your Mom and his Dad would take away his McQueen collection if you got lost..." Her voice trailed off and she muttered lowly. "Oh," while her eyes went wide at the sight of Quinn.

"He didn't say you were with..." She swallowed as she rocked back and forth, looking nervous and shy like she did when we were all in high school while she fiddled with her hands. "Quinn."

"Kurt was freaking out that I might get lost?" I asked in disbelief. "Seriously! I'm not five! I totally would have made it back once Q and I finished talking!"

"I'll let him know that you're okay and can make it home on your own..."

"Wait, you're leaving?" I blinked and scratched my head in confusion. "Why are you leaving? You don't have to go, Tina, it's not like I'm going to be talking to Q that much longer."

"Because that's just what I want to do, Finn, stand here awkwardly as you talk to Q," She said Quinn's nickname with clenched teeth as her eyes narrowed and I only became more confused. "It would just be better if I left. Obviously, this conversation – whatever it's about – is important, so go ahead and talk; I don't want to interrupt any more than I already have."

"Tina!" I shouted, after she turned on her heel and began walking back to the entrance of the park. "Tina, come back! Can you just, like, slow down? If you don't I'm gonna, like, fall flat on my face or get my legs all tangled up or something!"

Chasing after her – despite her legs being way shorter than mine – proved to be really hard, and I gave up, eventually; unsure of why exactly she was mad and basically running away from me.

I felt Q's hand on my forearm and I jerked away from her. My brow furrowed and my lips set into a frown as I faced her, frustrated about what just happened. "Why does this always happen? Why is it that everyone always thinks – whenever we're alone or whatever – that we're getting back together or something? I don't want you anymore, and you don't want me either!"

"Because that's the way these things go, Finn." She sounded defeated because I didn't understand. "You were my first love and I was yours; it's natural for anyone who's known us since high school to assume that's what we talk about – our relationship – whenever we're alone. After all, what else would we talk about? Glee club? Football? The Cheerios? I know you're not that naïve."

"Maybe I am that ni-ni...Whatever it is you said," I huffed as I ran my fingers through my hair. "Because the last thing I want to talk to you about is what happened between us; how you lied, cheated on me with my best friend and made me think I was going to be a Dad to baby Driz...I mean, Beth. Like, seriously, why would I want to talk about that?"

Groaning, I kicked a random patch of grass and I could feel the beginnings of tears burning at my eyes as I shut them tightly. Wiping at them roughly, I looked at Q and said quietly, "You should go find Artie. I have to figure out just how I'm gonna make Tina believe that I don't want you, and I have to do that alone."

"Finn..." Quinn started to say, voice soft and melodic in that way where she wanted me to believe whatever she was saying, but I cut her off. "You need to go, okay? We've both got our own stuff to work out; cause I really need to fix this with Tina. I can't lose her. I really love her, like a lot. Like more than I ever loved anyone. This is real; like it is with you and Artie."

"Are you serious?" Her big doe eyes blinked in disbelief, but I didn't care. "You love her more than you've ever loved anyone? Already? How can you say that? You've barely..."

"Because it's true!" I shouted. "That's how I can say that I love Tina more than I've ever loved anyone! You and Rachel didn't make me feel like this. You know you said you hated fighting with Artie, and you couldn't name that feeling you're feeling and stuff? Well, I know what you're talking about, okay? I know because I'm feeling it right now, and it feels like I'm gonna throw up or curl into a ball and just lay there. Go fix your fight with Artie, and let me try and fix my fight with Tina."

Before she could say anything else, I just walked away, not really sure where I was going; just that I needed to make things right with Tina.


	11. Chapter Nine:Feels Like Tonight Part Two

_Author's Note: So I thought I had the two parts of this chapter mapped out and then halfway through part two, Scarlett took a hard left and what you're reading happened. If I could understand my Muse and get her to do what I wanted, it would be a miracle, you guys. Instead, like every writer since the beginning of time, I am at her mercy._

**~*~Chapter Nine: Feels Like Tonight, Part Two~*~**

**Day 80**

_**Can't you see that there's nothing that I wanna do/But try to make it up to you**_

_**- "Feels Like Tonight" - by Daughtry**_

_**Tina's POV -**_

I walked away from Finn on shaky legs; ignoring his protests of _Tina, come back _and _can you just, like, slow down_?

My stomach felt heavy; like it was _suddenly_ filled with cement or something and my heart ached as my eyes started stinging with the threat of tears. My hand was trembling so much as I tried to turn the doorknob that before I even realized it, the door to the Hudson-Hummel home was flung open by Kurt.

The sound of feet pounding on the pavement leading up to the front door didn't register with me just like Kurt's relieved voice didn't. His relief quickly turned into his typical sarcasm as he shook his head and clicked his tongue sassily, "I _swear_, Finnegan Christopher Hudson, _you're_ the _only_ eighteen year old anyone would worry about getting _lost_ in this podunk town that's the size of a _postage stamp_."

"I _wasn't_ lost, man!" He insisted as he stomped his foot. "_Now_ can, you like get back to massaging your face? Or whatever that green goo you plastered on it was for? Tina and I need to be _alone_." He emphasized the word alone, adding several unnecessary syllables and that broke me out of my stupor.

"Ugh." Kurt shuddered. "You _straights_ and you're _obsession_ with copping feels and making out, is something I'll _never_ understand. Just please control your urges and refrain from having sexual intercourse on the couch; that's all I ask. Besides keeping your animalistic and disgusting grunting and moaning to a minimum, of course."

The small countertenor was gone and that's when Finn came to stand in front of me; puppy dog eyes, earnest and warm. "I don't want to get back with, Quinn. That's like the last thing that I want. I don't love her anymore. I haven't loved her for a long time. So can we just, like, _start over_? And you know have the weekend together that we were _supposed to_ before she ever texted me? Cause _that's_ what I _want_, okay? I want us to hang out at the fair, stuff our faces with fried everything, race the bumper cars, take a spin on the Ferris wheel and do the cheesy couple thing where we kiss at the top..."

"Stop!" I yelled the forcefulness in my voice shocking both of us.

I swallowed thickly and blinked through the tears that were clouding my vision. "I-I-I..." I blew out a rushed breath of air, feeling like I did _before_ Glee club when I was _just_ the weird Asian Goth chick with the stutter. "I d-d-don't...I c-cc-can't." I managed to sputter out, my voice barely above a whisper.

He blinked rapidly as panic flickered across his handsome face. "You c-can't what?"

I bit down on my lip and my eyes fell to my feet. I didn't know how it was possible, but my stomach actually felt _heavier_. For a split second, I thought I might _actually_ throw up. Looking back up at Finn, I could feel my heart twisting.

My head began to spin as I asked myself; _What the hell am I doing? Am I __**really**__ going to break up with him? Why? He just said he doesn't love Quinn anymore._

So many feelings were rushing through me that I could barely keep them all straight. As I continued staring into his bottomless brown eyes, I expected everything else to fall away like it always did whenever I looked into his eyes, but that didn't happen. Everything was still there; swirling and rushing and making me dizzy.

"Tina," His voice was hoarse and begging. "Can you, like, say _something_? Please? You _standing there_ and _not_ talking is _really_ freaking me out."

"I..." I barely got the word out before I closed my mouth, still desperately trying to sort through all the feelings.

"You said you don't love Quinn anymore," My voice was so small, I had to strain to hear it myself. "But does she still love you?" 

"What?" He sputtered as he gave me his confused puppy look. "No!" He practically shouted, shaking his head forcefully. "She's, like, _**really**_ in love with Artie. She only texted me cause they got into a fight and she needed me to tell her why I fell in love with her. Look, I know it sounds crazy and doesn't make a lot of sense, but Quinn – she's, like, really insecure, okay?"

I interrupted him with a scoff of disbelief. _**Quinn Fabray? Insecure? **__In what universe could little miss perfect, real life Barbie be insecure?_

"I _told_ you that _it_ sounded crazy _and_ didn't make a lot of sense, but you just, like, have to trust me, Tina. She _really _is insecure and this fight with Artie – it was their first one and stuff – it really shook her up, okay? I was just trying to be a good friend and be there for her. Are you telling me you _wouldn't_ have done the _same thing_ for _Artie_ if he had texted you?"

My heart was twisting all over again as I tried to figure out how to answer him.

Artie and I never really regained the closeness we once had after I had faked my stutter. Even after the whole _"Power of Madonna" _confession at the piano when we were the only ones in the choir room and decided we should start dating, we weren't as close. Then the summer before junior year happened and _all_ he wanted to do was play _Halo_ and watch _Coming Home_ so we broke up and then I fell in love with Mike at Asian Camp.

Despite all of that, I had a feeling – one I couldn't shake – that if he had called me or texted me after his fight with Quinn, that I would be there for him; just like Finn was there for her.

But there was _another_ feeling I couldn't shake and it was the feeling that if Quinn couldn't get Artie to forgive her, she would set her sights on Finn all over again. The days of her stomping through McKinley's halls like the HBIC she was weren't so long ago and I wouldn't put it past her to try _something. _Because girls like her – the unbelievably beautiful schemers who were used to getting everything – they didn't change.

"You're doing that thing where you're just standing there and not saying anything. You know the one that really freaks me out? Why are you doing it again?"

"Because no matter what I say we're going to end up fighting." I huffed as I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted.

"Fighting?" He gave me that impossible to resist goofy smile of his, but instead of my whole face lighting up like usual, it barely twitched.

"Yes, _fighting_." I emphasized the word as I rolled my eyes. "You don't want to hear what I have to say about Quinn."

"Quinn?" He blinked in that way that was supposed to be cute and adorable, but I didn't have the patience for it. "We're not talking about Quinn anymore. If we're talking about _anyone_, it's Artie, and you _still_ haven't answered my question about him. You'd _totally_ be there for him like I was there for Quinn, so just say yes and we can forget about this!"

"_Fine_! If our situations were reversed, I would have been there for Artie like you were there for Quinn. But it doesn't change the fact that if she can't get Artie back, she'll go after you!"

"I already told you, I don't want her! I don't want anyone but you, okay? Do you know how I felt when you ran away from me and seemed all mad and stuff?" His voice was soft and a sadness crept over his boyish features.

"I felt like I was gonna throw up or just curl up into a ball and lay there." The tender but still clumsily endearing way his large fingers stroked at my cheek, had fresh tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "I know that sounds, like, _really_ dramastic..."

"_Dramatic_." I automatically corrected as I hiccuped while struggling to let the tears fall.

"Yeah, what you said." He nodded in this dismissive way before continuing his previous train of thought. "It sounds dramatic or whatever, but it's true. I totally get why Artie wanted to try anything he could to get you back before he fell for Brittany and stuff. You're super awesome, you're funny, you're like way smart, you can do that twisty thing with your tongue when we make out, you'll play video games with me, and you're really pretty, and I love you. More than I ever loved Quinn or Rachel. I even told her that."

"Y-y-you t-tt-told Q-qq-Quinn y-yy-you l-ll-loved mm-me mm-more th-th-th-than, y-yy-you l-ll-loved hh-her and R-rr-Rachel?" I was so stunned, I couldn't stop myself from stuttering, and that's when the tears started to fall.

"You're crying." His voice cracked a little and his tone was panicked. "How come you're crying? Isn't it good that I love you more than I ever loved Quinn or Rachel? Or is this that thing that girls do? You know, like, they cry when they're happy and stuff? Like when my Mom married Burt?"

"I never thought you'd say that." I whispered my voice choked with tears. "We haven't been together that long; even though we've been saying I love you for a while."

I sighed heavily; feeling exhausted from all the emotions I had battling inside me. Sifting my fingers through my hair, I looked up at him through hooded eyes and with my lips trembling, I said, "I don't want to fight with you anymore."

I thought I had been exhausted when I fought with Mike about Mr. Schue's duets project during junior year and I thought I had hated it too, but that was _nothing_ compared to this. I wasn't naïve enough to believe that Finn and I would never fight – every couple fought; that was just the way things were – I just never expected it to make me feel like I was going to throw up or just curl up into a ball and lay there like he said.

"I don't want to fight with you anymore either, Tina." He pulled me against his impossibly tall and sturdy frame and immediately I melted into him.

"You know just because we fought and stuff," His lips were hovering over my ear and I squirmed just a little; the warmth of his breath was tickling my cool tear-stained skin. "Doesn't mean that I, like, don't love you. Cause when I would fight with Quinn or Rachel they _always_ acted like I didn't love them _enough_ or I was _hurting _them on purpose, and I don't want us to be like that."

It was strange for Finn to sound so level-headed and logical. I was used to – like everyone in Glee club – him being goofy, earnest and adorably confused, but level-headed and logical weren't things that came into one's mind about Finn Hudson.

The feeling was brief and I pulled back from him slightly and tilted my head so I could stare into his bottomless brown eyes. "I don't want us to be like that either. It's just that when it comes to Quinn, it's _hard_ not to feel like the weird Asian Goth chick I was before Glee, you know?"

"Do you want me to tell you how _super awesome_ you are again?" Just like that level-headed and logical Finn was replaced by the more familiar eager puppy dog version; his brown eyes lit with warmth and happiness and goofy, lopsided grin firmly in place.

"No." I shook my head. "I want you to tell me you love me again."

"I love you, Tina Cohen-Chang."

"I love you, too, Finn Hudson."

We shared a soft and brief kiss that still managed to leave me breathless somehow. With our foreheads resting against each other's, I went in for another kiss; this one longer and more intense.

Pulling back from the second kiss, I told him, "I'm going to stay with my parents tonight. I think we both could use a night alone after all of this. It's been really intense; way more than either of us expected and being in our own beds will help us _actually_ sleep."

My tone was teasing and I playfully nudged him with my hips as I finished the last part of my sentence.

"What makes you think we won't sleep if you stay the night?" His tone was full of fake outrage.

"I know you." I stated plainly with a roll of my eyes. "You think because we fought, you're entitled to make up sex, but that's not happening; at least not tonight. And _**really**_, Finn, you should know better. How many times did you and Quinn fight back in high school? And what about Rachel?"

"But _yy-you're_ not Quinn or Rachel!" He whined. "You're _Tina_!"

"You should have stopped listening to Puck back in elementary school."

"Next time we fight..." He started to say, but I quickly cut him off with a raised eyebrow as my lips quirked and I put my hands on my hips, "_Next time_?"

"Come on, Tina, make up sex is supposed to be awesome!"

"_Oh my Gaga_!" The sound of Kurt's familiar high-pitched wail caused us to snap our heads in the direction of the stairwell where he was standing in his pajamas. "I am going to get my customary mug of warm milk and then I'm going back to my bedroom, and until then you two are not to breathe. I've already heard enough, thank you. The last thing I need is accompanying images haunting me in my sleep, which will happen if you continue your lewd conversation about...Well, you know, _it_."

"So..." Finn rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Kurt practically sprinted back down to his basement bedroom, making me giggle.

"We've got plenty of time to have make up sex, Cowboy." I let out an exasperated sigh before an idea popped into my head.

Holding out the pinky finger on my right hand, I said softly, "I pinky swear the next time we fight, we'll have make up sex."

Not surprisingly, he was eager to wrap his pinky finger around mine. Hugging me tightly he murmured against the thickness of my hair. "Best girlfriend ever."


	12. Chapter Ten: All I Want Is You

_Author's Note: The flashback in this chapter is meant as an homage to the movie that inspired this fic, (500) Days of Summer; since I'm using a scene from the movie in the flashback._

_Just pretend like Finn never played the guitar in the season two episode "Rumors" otherwise the first part of this chapter won't make sense._

**~*~Chapter Ten: All I Want Is You~*~**

**Day 277**

_**If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug/And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be the hug**_

"_**All I Want Is You" by Barry Louis Polisar - **_

_**Finn's POV -**_

"Dude, you are _**so beyond **_whipped!" Puck crowed after he had finally managed to stop laughing his ass off.

"Come on, man, don't be such a jackass!" I shouted, throwing a pillow at his head that he ducked like always.

"Hey, you asked for my opinion, Finnocence." He sneered. "You didn't tell me I had to agree with your plan to propose to Girl-Asian, okay? Cause, seriously, it makes me think that you lost your balls somewhere and they got replaced by a vagina."

"I knew I should have asked Sam to help me." I mumbled as I shook my head.

"What did you say, Hudson?"

I wasn't the brightest tool in the shed – or was it the sharpest crayon in the box? Whatever. The point is, I wasn't the smartest guy, but I knew Puck. You don't get to be bros as long as we have, without _actually_ knowing each other, which is why I think I kinda always forgave him for hooking up with my girlfriends.

But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is I knew – even if he thought my plan to propose to Tina was totally girly – is he would do it because I thought – or at least he thought I did – that Sam was a better guitar player than he was.

"You heard me." I shot back as I moved to stand up. "I'm calling Sam, dude. He can play the guitar and at least I know _he_ won't laugh at me or think I have a vagina. He'll think it's romantic like he's _supposed_ to and his support will stop me from chickening out."

"Take another step toward that door and I'll beat your ass in! There's no way Trouty Mouth is helping you propose to your girl! I'm your _best_ bro; he's just some dude who does a great Bieber impression, which ain't gonna help you with Stutter-Fly. Now do you wanna learn to shred from the master or not?"

_Fist pump!_

After like an hour of guitar lessons, I thought my fingers were _never_ gonna stop bleeding or they were _fall off_ or something crazy like that.

With pleading eyes and a loudly growling stomach, I begged Puck to stop. "You're such a _wuss_, man." He grumbled as he got up from his spot on my bed. "Bestie ran us _harder_ in _practice _back in the day. But you're giant empty stomach is a total distraction, anyway. Let's get some grub before I bash your head in because of all the damn noise you're making."

We sat across from each other in a run-down booth at Thurman's Cafe; two huge cheese burgers with the works and a pile of fries sat in front of us, and we eagerly dug in.

Swallowing a large gulp of his Coke, he belched loudly and wiped the side of his mouth with his sleeve before asking, "So what's got you ready to be locked down, anyway? Don't you think you're like an embryo or some shit in marriage years?"

"An embryo?" I blinked and scratched the side of my head. "What do babies have to do with this? Cause Tina is _so __**not**_ pregnant, dude!"

"I know Stutter-Fly doesn't have some giant potato-headed baby inside of her, you dumb ass. All I'm sayin' is you're not _even_ nineteen yet. Think of all the chicks you haven't screwed!"

"Says the guy who hasn't screwed _another_ chick besides Lauren Zises for, like, almost a year."

It was weird that Puck hadn't stepped out on Lauren and stuff cause he was like a _sex shark_, but then again, Lauren was _super scary_.

"Just because it's been almost a year since I slept with another chick, doesn't mean I'm gonna buy some ring and propose. I'm not crazy like you, bro."

"Stop saying I'm crazy! I'm _not_ crazy, dude! I'm just, like, you know – in love and stuff. And seriously, don't talk to me about other chicks or whatever. I don't want other chicks. I want Tina."

"Marriage is all serious and stuff. And no offense, Hudson, but you spent like two weeks _praying_ to a grilled cheese sandwich with Jesus' face on it. You also thought cucumbers could give you AIDS and that you got Q preggers via hot tub."

"I'm not that guy anymore." My voice was firm and I stared Puck down like we were back in the huddle at McKinley. "I _know_ Tina's the girl for me."

"Oh, yeah? Well what makes Girl-Asian _so_ special? Or whatever? Cause you were pretty _sprung_ on Berry's crazy and Q – well, it _never_ seemed like you were gonna get _her_ out of your system. It's cause she's an _animal_ in the sack, right?" His hazel eyes were gleaming with interest and he was smirking like he thought I would agree with him. "It's like I told you at Schue's wedding; it's _always_ the quiet chicks that like the _freakiest_ shit. So what's she into? Whips, chains..."

"_**DUDE!**_" I yelled loud enough that a couple people turned to look at us, which made my whole face turn red. Lowering my voice, I leaned over the table and said, "It's _not_ like _that_, man. Tina's really sweet and I wish you'd stop thinking that kinda stuff about her. It's disrespectful and stuff."

"Don't go all Hulk on me, okay? I'm just trying to figure this shit out. So if Girl-Asian isn't _**extra freaky,**_ then _what_ is she? You used to get all _crazy_ sappy about Q and Berry. Like, you _couldn't_ shut up about them. It was pretty gross, to be honest, dude. The only reason I never socked you was cause you were my boy and all."

"Uh...Thanks?"

"Now gimme the 411 on your girl. What is it about Tina Chang..." "It's _Cohen-Chang_." I interrupted Puck as I shook my head. "How can you _not_ know her last name? We've been going to school with her since we were _kindergartners_!"

"Forget about me messing up her freaking name and just tell me how you knew she made you like it enough to put a ring on it."

"Did you just say _put a ring on it_?" I smiled triumphantly. "Who's missing their balls now, Puckerman?"

"Shut up."

"Fine," I said as I settled against the back of the booth, my mind already drifting back to the day I _really_ knew I wanted to marry Tina. "I'll tell you, but you _can't_ tell her I told you this. Like, _ever_, dude. She'll _totally_ skin me alive or beat me with her nunchucks or something crazy like that."

_Flashback -_

"_**Octopus's Garden**_ _isn't even, like, the best Beatles song about animals!" I shouted as I followed Tina into this little video store that was near the off-campus apartment she had now. _

"_I didn't insult your Mom, Finn." She sighed and as she turned around the skirt of her dress twirled with her, letting me see just a little of her thighs. "All I said was that I love **Octopus's Garden**. There's nothing **wrong** with that, you know."_

"_Yeah, there is! That's like saying you love peanut butter and pickles. Besides, **no one** loves Ringo!"_

"_That's not true; I love Ringo."_

"_B-b-bb-but n-n-nobody does! That's, like, a rule or something. Yeah!" I snapped my fingers and nodded my head a lot. "It's like a rule! Nobody loves Ringo. You can ask anyone."_

"_That's the **whole** reason I love Ringo; because **no one** does."_

_I shook my head, following her deeper into the store, my lips curved into a smile. Staying mad at her was, like, impossible. She was so cute, looking up at me with her big eyes and trying to defend loving Ringo. Cause, seriously, there was **no** defending that. I was a **drummer **and **I **knew nobody liked that dude._

"_So, like, what are we doing here, anyway?" I scratched the back of my neck as my eyes scanned the racks of DVDs. "You're DVD collection is pretty sweet. You know for a chick and stuff."_

"_For a chick?" Her eyes were narrowed and her hands were on her hips. "Was adding **that** necessary? Did you think Puck was going to jump out from behind the racks and accuse you of being **ball-less **or something? Ugh. I swear you can be such a boy."_

"_Should we just g..." I didn't finish my sentence before she started pulling me toward the back of the store, which confused me until I saw a curtain and a sign that hung off the curtain with a picture of boobs on it that said **ADULTS ONLY**, and then I wasn't so much confused as I was, like, dizzy and stuff._

_Cause there was **no way** we were renting a porno. _

_As soon as we walked – really, though Tina walked behind the curtain and like dragged me behind her – there was this dude who was already in there, which freaked me out, but before I could blink he was gone. _

_I got even more dizzy when she held up a DVD and whispered in my ear, "I've always wanted to watch porn with a guy. Say you'll watch it with me, Finn."_

_Flashback -_

"_**SERIOUSLY?" **_Puck practically yelled, interrupting my story.

"Shhhh!" I hissed. "I told you, man, Tina would kill me if she found out I told you this. It's, like, a _private_ thing. And it's _not_ like we do it _all_ the time. We've only done it _one_ other time since then, and really it's just to rag on how unrealistic it is and stuff. It's fun."

"You've gotta be _fucking_ kidding me! Your chick is telling you she wants to watch porn – _fucking porn _– with you, and you make _jokes_? How the hell are you my boy? Have you learned _nothing_ from The Puckster?"

"Do you wanna know how I figured out I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Tina or not?"

"Dude, I think I _know_ why you wanna spend the rest of your life with her. She's not gonna go ape-shit cause you like to watch porn."

"But it's got _nothing_ to do with _that_!"

"Prove it."

"I will. Now shut up and listen."

_Flashback -_

_About fifteen minutes later, we were on her couch and watching the movie, which was called **Sweet and Shower**. We got a good laugh out of that and it was worth it cause her laugh, was totally the best laugh **ever**. It was bright and bubbly and sounded like wind chimes and stuff._

_Like, halfway through the movie, I saw her tilt her head to the side as she watched the dude and the chick having sex. Her teeth nibbled on her bottom lip and I could feel my jeans get just a little tighter; causing me to squirm._

_**Mailman, mailman, mailman, mailman.**_

"_Huh," She mumbled before turning to look at me, her eyes all big and cute and peeking through her long eyelashes. "That," She pointed to the screen before looking back at me. "Looks do-able."_

_For a split second, I thought I was dead cause, like, I **swore** I couldn't breathe. Before I knew what was happening, suddenly she was straddling me her cute sundress riding up past her thighs. Her boobs pressed into my chest when she leaned in, so her lips were hovering above my ear._

"_I'm serious." She whispered and I couldn't help but roll my hips against hers. _

_She slid off my lap and pulled her dress over her head and yeah, she was just walking away like she always did – her hips weren't swaying like girls' hips in movies do, they were just moving like normal – but it was, like, the **hottest **thing; her walking to the bathroom. I nearly tripped over my feet when my brain finally started working again and I followed her into the bathroom, practically ripping my clothes off along the way._

_We hadn't showered together before and hers was kinda small, so it made it hard for me to move around and the steam made it hard to see, but we were close enough that all I had to do was bend down to kiss her for, like, foreplay and stuff. _

_Just as my lips touched hers, she tried to raise herself to her tip toes, but she slipped and I tried to catch her, but I wasn't fast enough so I kinda flailed around and basically we ended up tangled up in the curtain; the water still pouring down and us laughing loudly._

_When she finally managed to stop and looked at me through the stringy strands of her wet hair, I felt, like I don't even know what I felt. I felt full, I guess, but that sounded weird since it usually meant you ate a lot and stuff; not that you were totally in love. But I really couldn't find another word. Full, it just – you know – felt right._

_I was about to feel more of what I already felt – that full feeling, I guess – when she brushed her thumb underneath my eye and said softly, "You lost an eyelash."_

_Her heart-shaped face was soft and kinda shy when she held out her thumb and told me, "Don't just sit there, make a wish. That's what you're supposed to do when you lose an eyelash; make a wish."_

"_Uh, yeah, sure." I didn't know that was something you were supposed to do, but I couldn't resist her as we were all tangled together, sitting in the shower, the water still pounding on us._

_Blowing at the eyelash, I closed my eyes and made my wish; my wish that she would marry me._

_Flashback -_

"I know, I know," I remarked as I rolled my eyes when I finished the story. "I'm totally beyond whipped. But you know what, Puck? I don't care if you think I am. All I care about is you teaching me the rest of the chords so I can propose the way I want to. Cause let's face it, you're not gonna stand under window of Tina's apartment and play while I sing."

"Chill out, Finnocence. Don't get your panties in a wad, all right? Cause you really don't know what the hell I'm gonna do. Or what I'm not gonna do. Let's pay for the burgers and then put those ginormous fingers of yours back to work."

"So you're really gonna do it?" Puck asked after he had finished teaching me the chords I wanted to learn and declared that I was good enough.

"Yeah, I am. My Mom gave me the engagement ring my Dad gave her and everything."

"No shit!"

"Seriously. I talked to her about it and she loves Tina almost as much as I do and Burt does too, and Kurt just, like, hopped up and down and made a lot of squealing noises when I told him; so he's cool with it too. But like he wasn't gonna be; Tina's his other best friend after Mercedes."

"Good luck, dude. Not that you'll need it." He snorted as he shook his head. "Stutterfly's as far gone for you as you are for her."

Rubbing his mohawk, he took a deep breath and looked at me with this expression I'd only seen a couple of times – the most recent when he told me that he wouldn't hurt me ever again when we were juniors after I found out about him and Rachel hooking up – and I swallowed a lump that was suddenly inside my throat.

"You know I _hate_ this stuff," He gestured between us and a scowl crossed his features. "It's so _**fucking**_ _lame_, this _sappy_ ass shit, but whatever. You're my boy, Finn; like the dopey brother I never had and junk, so I'm happy for you. Girl-Asian's pretty awesome and she really loves you and whatever. And you can _seriously_ tell me to shut the fuck up _anytime_."

"Thanks, man. You being happy for me means as much as my Mom and Burt and Kurt, you know? You've been my best friend since forever and it would _suck_ if you thought this was a bad idea. Not that it would stop me, but it's awesome that you have my back."

Hugging wasn't something we did a lot and I could, like, count on one hand the times that _Puck_ hugged _me_ and after this, I guess I could use two hands to count the times he hugged me. Clapping me on the back, he gave me that smirk and joked, "Just don't fuck up the words, Franken-Finn. Cause that would _suck_."

**~*~T&F~*~T&F*~*T&F~*~T&F*~*T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~*T&F*~T&F*~*T&F*~***

**Day 277 ½ **

_**~*~Palo Alto, California~*~**_

_**Finn's POV -**_

The whole time difference thing made me _really_ sleepy as I sat in the back of a cab that was taking me to Tina's apartment. The money I would have spent on her ring – before I went to my Mom and asked for the one my Dad gave her – went to the plane ticket.

"Going to see a girl, aren't you, son?" The cabby dude asked with this weird smile.

"Uh, yeah, I am." I scratched my head, wondering how he knew. Real life wasn't like the movies where cabbies and bartenders knew everything...Right?

"She must be something else for you to be singing to her."

"Yeah," I murmured, feeling that full kind of feeling just from thinking of her. "She's _awesome_."

"Well, good luck to you, son. Hopefully she likes her song."

"Thanks."

Standing under the window of Tina's apartment, I really hoped I wasn't going to end up getting arrested; jail would, like, totally suck for me. Sure, I was tall and I played football and stuff, but I was a hugger not a fighter or whatever that stupid saying was. Not to mention, jail would totally screw up proposing.

Of course if I was in some cheesy chick flick, I'd totally be able to propose to her from inside a jail cell or if the cops thought I was trespassing or whatever I would just show them my guitar and talk about how I was being creative about proposing and they'd let me off with a warning.

Too lost in my head, I didn't hear the soft giggles or hear the grass crunching behind me. Suddenly hands covered my eyes and the scent of jasmine filled my nose.

My whole body was, like, tense but it relaxed really quick when I felt her lips kiss my ear and her soft voice say, "Guess who, Frankenteen?"

"It's Tina." I tried to sound like I wasn't happy to see her cause I was bummed my surprise was ruined, but I couldn't. It was impossible to stay mad at her and it was impossible not to be happy when she was around.

Turning around, I saw her beaming smile and bright eyes looking back at me and I felt that full feeling all over again, but it was like _**even more**_ than the last time, and I knew I just had to marry her. She was it for me. There were no other chicks. It was just Tina.

Pulling out the guitar, I watched as she did that cute thing where she quirked her head to the side and her eyes narrowed. I took a deep breath and swallowed the biggest lump I'd ever felt in my throat while staring into her eyes as I said, "This is, like, really crazy and I've never done anything like this before, but don't say anything, okay? At least not till I'm done."

I struggled with the chords at first, but at least I didn't sound like I was skinning a cat like Puck said once. The singing part was a lot easier, but what made it easy was the look on her face. She recognized the song pretty quickly and her beaming smile was back and her eyes were bright all over again. She danced along with the song, her head bobbing back and forth as she shook her hips and laughed.

When I strummed the last chord, I got down on one knee and she gasped and put her hand over her mouth. My hand was shaking as I held out the ring and I was surprised I could talk.

"I know we're young and getting married seems crazy and stuff, but that's all I want; is to marry you, Tina Eileen Cohen-Chang. This going to sound stupid and kinda weird, but you make me feel full. I'm not good with words so I can't explain it that well, but it's like just being around you makes me feel like there's no room inside me except for all my feelings about you, you know? You're way smart, you're funny, you're always happy, you're so pretty and like a million other awesome things. But you know what's really great about you?"

_**(If I was a flower growing wild and free**_

_**All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee**_

_**And if I was a tree growing tall and green**_

_**All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves)**_

_**(If I was a flower growing wild and free**_

_**All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee**_

_**And if I was a tree growing tall and green**_

_**All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves ("All I Want Is You" - by Barry Louis Polisar)**_

She shook her head and I could see her big brown eyes glistening with tears. I had to swallow again and even clear my throat before I said, "What's really great about you is that you love me. Cause, seriously, you could like have any guy out there, but you picked me and it's not cause you wanna be popular or our voices are awesome together; it's just cause I'm me, and that's never happened before. So...will you pick me forever? I mean, will you marry me? Yeah, that's what I mean."

_**(All I want is you, will you be my bride**_

_**Take me by the hand and stand by my side**_

_**All I want is you, will you stay with me**_

_**Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea)**_

It felt like forever before she suddenly tackled me and had me laying on my back; the ring clutched tightly in my fist. Slowly she slithered up my body and I was hot all over as she peered at me from behind her thick eyelashes. Her head bent forward and she took hold of my lips, bringing them into this long, soft kiss that ended with a pop as she pulled back.

"Ask me to pick you forever again, Finn." Her voice was that breathless where it sounded like she was singing and I could feel my heart pounding violently against my chest while my stomach swooped over and over like the loops of a roller coaster.

"P-pp-pick me forever?" I sputtered, my mind going, like, a million miles per hour.

"Yes." Her lips were right against my ear when she said the word and I had to hear her say it again to be sure.

"Say it again, Tina."

"Yes." Her voice was just a little louder as she settled herself between my legs; our bodies locking together like pieces of a puzzle.

_**(If you were a river in the mountains tall,**_

_**The rumble of your water would be my call**_

_**If you were winter, I know I'd be the snow**_

_**Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow)**_

I don't know how long we laid like that, but after awhile, I lifted my knee slightly so the denim from my jeans rubbed against the lace of her panties underneath the tutu skirt she wore, and she squealed as she kinda jumped up.

She pressed her hands into my chest so she could pull herself into a sitting position and she was straddling me like that day on her couch. "Don't think just because we're going to get married that you can be fresh whenever you want, Cowboy."

I laughed cause she said _fresh_ and called me _Cowboy_. "I had to get you to sit up so I could put your ring on."

"A likely story. You just want in my panties, and you think you've got free access cause I picked you forever."

"Wait..." I said slowly as I blinked over and over. "Us getting married doesn't mean I have free access to your panties? That blows!"

"You are _so_ lucky I know you're joking. Now gimme my ice."

_**(All I want is you, will you be my bride**_

_**Take me by the hand and stand by my side**_

_**All I want is you, will you stay with me**_

_**Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea)**_

The way she whipped her head and jutted her hips (which had me thinking of the mailman) made her look just like Mercedes, which made me laugh again. "I told you, you were funny." I snickered as I slid the ring over her knuckle.

In the glow of the street lights the one karat diamond was _almost_ as bright as her eyes. She looked down at it and then back at me; her eyes big and soft and cheeks flushing that pretty pink. "It's beautiful."

"My Dad gave that to my Mom and she wanted you to have it. She really loves you, you know? Burt does too. And it's not like I have to tell you Kurt loves you. He probably tells you all the time. But, yeah, he was totally on board with this too."

"This is _such_ a chick move," She groaned, blinking her eyes so she would stop the tears. "Crying cause I'm getting married. Ugh. But I'm just _so_ happy. You know that full feeling you were talking about? I feel it too whenever I'm with you. There's no room for anything else but you, and it's sappy and gross, but I love that. I don't want there to be room inside me for anything else."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

_**(If you were a wink, I'd be a nod**_

_**If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod**_

_**If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug**_

_**If you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug)**_

_**(All I want is you, will you be my bride**_

_**Take me by the hand and stand by my side**_

_**All I want is you, will you stay with me**_

_**Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea)**_

_**(If you were the wood, I'd be the fire**_

_**If you were the love, I'd be the desire**_

_**If you were a castle, I'd be your moat**_

_**And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float)**_

_**(All I want is you, will you be my bride**_

_**Take me by the hand and stand by my side**_

_**All I want is you, will you stay with me**_

_**Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea)**_

_**Song used "All I Want Is You" by Barry Louis Polisar as heard on the Juno soundtrack**_

_Note: Before you freak out about the porn, it is legal for 18 year olds to buy porn in the United States, so Finn and Tina weren't breaking the law._


	13. Chapter Eleven: A Couple Of Kooks

_Author's Note: This chapter features both Tina and Finn's POV, but all the chapters after this – except the wedding – will only feature the singular POV of one or the other._

**~*~Chapter Eleven: A Couple Of Kooks~*~**

**Day 300**

_**Will you stay in our lovers story/If you stay you won't be sorry**_

"_**Kooks" - by David Bowie**_

_**Tina's POV -**_

Suddenly the CVS on Maple Lane looked like the abandoned hotel from _'The Shining,'_ and definitely _not_ the plain, ordinary building I had been in _at least_ a hundred or so times since I was little. I seriously believed that Jack Nicholson was going to run out of the automatic doors, swinging an ax and yelling, _"Redrum, redrum, redrum!_"

Thank God that didn't happen. Cause I _so_ did not need to deal with crazy ax murderers right now.

I had bigger fish to fry.

Thinking about fish had my stomach tumbling violently and for a split second, I thought I might throw up in the parking lot, but to my relief, nothing happened.

Steeling myself, I walked through the automatic doors and hoped no one I knew was around. As much as I didn't need to deal with crazy ax murderers, I needed to deal with my friends even less. But luck clearly wasn't on my side today because as I turned to my right, Rachel's crazy doe eyes met mine.

"Tina!" She gasped, dropping Sam's hand and rushing toward me.

She hugged me so tight, I swore I could _literally_ feel my lungs constricting as if I was trying to replicate 18th century England with a corset or something. "Rachel," I wheezed. "Y-y-you're ss-squeezing me."

"Babe," Sam chuckled under his breath as he shook his head, big pink lips stretching wide. "I think Tina kinda, like, needs to breathe."

"Thanks, Avatar." I replied once Rachel let me go.

"I am sorry for constricting your respiratory system with my enthusiasm." Her cheeks flushed as she smiled softly. "But I just couldn't help myself. It's not that often that Samuel and I have the pleasure of reuniting with a fellow former gleek. Especially one who has recently celebrated such a beautiful moment as yourself."

I didn't have to ask to figure out how she knew about me and Finn; between Kurt and Mercedes, the whole universe probably knew by now. Blushing, I fumbled with the ring on my finger and smiled as I murmured, "Thanks."

Clapping her hands, she bounced on the heels of her feet. "You _must_ tell me _every little_ detail." She gushed, her hands moving to clutch at her heart. "Hearing the details from Kurt _is not the same_ as hearing _them_ from _you_."

"Why don't you call Tina later, Rach?" Sam suggested. "We have that thing with your Dads and you're like _never_ late and stuff. And if we're late, they'll probably think we were in some horrible accident or something crazy and Leroy will have to stop Hiram from calling _every_ hospital within like a _hundred miles_ or whatever."

"You're right." Rachel was suddenly more subdued and I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.

Looking between the tiny brunette and the tall blonde, I could tell something was off. My lips twisted and I slowly my brows furrowed. "I didn't just, like, stumble into an alternate universe, did I? Because I suddenly feel like I did. You just agreed with Sam like," I paused to snap my fingers. "That. No arguing, no stomping of your feet, no arm-crossing, pouting, nothing."

As she huffed and stomped her foot, I caught a glimpse of the Rachel that was much more familiar to me and I relaxed just a little. "I do not appreciate you're implication that I engage in immature acts, and I am incapable of admitting when another person is right."

Shaking my head, I tried hard not to laugh. "No offense, Rachel, but how many Glee club rehearsals did you storm out of because you thought Mr. Schue was _'holding you back' _or because you thought he was _'unable to understand a talent such as yours'_? Not to mention, whenever any of us disagreed with you, you would always pout or stomp your feet or cross your arms like you were in time out or something. I'm just stating the facts."

"We'll just have to agree to disagree." She replied haughtily, sticking her nose high in the air. "Now as Samuel was saying we really must go; my Daddy does get irrationally worried whenever I am late for an engagement as I have been punctual my entire life."

"Is everything okay?" I don't know why I was so concerned about Rachel and Sam leaving; like, honestly, what was the big deal? I'd see them again at the wedding, maybe even before, so why was I doing this?

"I don't mean to pry and stuff." I tugged on the strap of my bra that was exposed from the purple off-the-shoulder _'Angry Birds'_ T-shirt I was wearing. "It's just like one second you want me to re-cap Finn's proposal and the next Sam's saying you have to split. Did I say something?"

I could feel my eyes go wide as I sputtered out the last part. The last thing I wanted was to upset Rachel or Sam. We weren't that close, but still; who wants to upset their friends?

"You didn't say anything." Sam assured, his clear green eyes warm and understanding. He let out a long breath, pursing his big, pink lips together as he sifted his fingers through his much shorter hair. "Maybe you and Rachel should, like, talk alone and stuff. Girl to girl or whatever. She'll tell you what's up, but don't be afraid that you said something; cause you didn't. It's all good, Tina."

Him walking away only had me more confused. Finding Rachel's doe eyes and seeing the way they were shining had me panicking. A crying _Rachel Berry_ was something _I _was definitely _not_ prepared for.

"It appears as though biology has dictated that I may be with child."

Mercedes' voice suddenly appeared in my head; _It appears as though biology has dictated that I may be with child? Is this chick for real?_

Suppressing the snort I could feel rising in my throat, I couldn't help but wonder if _something_ was in the air? I thought I was pregnant and so did Rachel...Did that mean Cedes was going to appear out of nowhere looking for a pregnancy test too? Or Quinn?

Shuddering at the thought of Quinn suddenly appearing, I nodded and murmured, "Biology decided it would be fun to screw me over too."

"Don't say that!" Rachel gasped, her features wrought with a mixture of horror and scandal. "This could very well be a blessing in disguise. You should look at your situation the same way. It is always better to be positive. And it's not as, though, you have to worry about ending up alone; you and Finn are prepared to make an endless commitment to each other."

"Right." I said slowly, elongating the word. Sighing, I twisted my bottom lip between my teeth before running my fingers through my hair. Looking at the tiny brunette levelly, I told her, "It doesn't matter if Finn and I are engaged or if we were already married; we're _not_ ready to have a baby. This could change everything."

"Would you like to do this together?" She offered. "We could be each other's moral support and such."

"No thanks." I whispered trying to smile as best as I could. "And don't think it's because you're not Mercedes or Kurt; it's got nothing to do with that, I swear. You need to do this with Sam and I need to do this with Finn. I'll see you later, okay?"

"To say that I am as close to you as you are to Mercedes and Kurt would be a false statement, but do know that I am here for you, Tina. It's logical to assume – given our similar situations – that we will both be in Lima for an extended period of time, and you know where to find me."

"I'll keep that in mind."

As I paid for the _First Response_ test, I half expected the clearly bored cashier to look at me and make a sarcastic quip about my eggo being preggo, but I was Tina Cohen-Chang _not_ Ellen Page so that didn't happen, which was comforting in a weird sort of way.

The stupid test felt like a bomb in my purse as I walked home. I swore I could hear it ticking; even though I knew that was logically impossible. Rushing up the stairs to my childhood bedroom, I pushed the door open and was surprised to see Finn sitting there waiting.

Before I could even open my mouth, he was standing right in front of me; his long legs making up the small distance between the bed and the door fairly quickly. He wrapped his arms around me and it was like I was suddenly boneless as I collapsed against him. He didn't have to say anything; I knew Kurt told him what was going on because I had confessed to him about being late and how I was tired and my boobs hurt and everything.

"When Kurt said you needed to talk to me," His voice was muffled by his face being buried in my hair. "I thought you were gonna give me the ring back and stuff. I don't know if _this_ sucks _less_ or _more_."

I moved out of his embrace and shook my head. "There's no way I'm giving this ring back, ever. I'm too head-over-heels crazy in love with you to. But," A shaky breath escaped my chest as I blinked over and over, my eyes stinging with tears. "I'm so scared right now, Finn. _This_ – if I am, I mean – it changes _everything_. And we are _so __**not**_ready to have a baby."

His brows furrowed together and I could see the wheels turning in his head. "D-d-d-does t-th-that mean y-yy-you w-ww-would...Y-yy-you know?"

I knew what he was asking; the _word_ he _actually_ couldn't say and suddenly, I felt my stomach sink all the way to the soles of my feet, just like my heart. "I don't know." I squeaked; my breathing rushed and my head spinning.

Before I could blink, I felt him lifting me off the carpet and into his arms. The way he was cradling me was 'bridal style' like he had just carried me over the threshold and I clung tightly to the strength in his broad shoulders, my face buried in his neck.

I opened my eyes (that I didn't know had closed) once I knew that he was sitting on my bed. Pulling away from his neck, I stared into his eyes and I could count the flecks of hazel around the chocolate of his irises, and my breathing was as unsteady as ever.

"Whatever you want," His voice was shaky as he stroked my cheek. "It's okay by me. Th-tt-this is, like, your life and your body and all that feminist stuff you talk about sometimes. I know saying vows is still a while away, but you've got me for better for worse, richer or poorer and until we're dead and whatever."

I couldn't _believe_ I was _laughing_ – even though it sounded more like hiccuping over and over – but I _actually_ was. I felt my whole body relax as the roughness of his thumb brushed along the apples of my cheek, taking the wetness of my tears away with every stroke. "You tell me, I'm super awesome, but really _you're_ the super awesome one."

He shook his head, the little dimple in his left cheek appearing as he smiled softly. "Nah." He dismissed, bending just a little to rub my nose with his own. "You're _way more_ super awesome than I am, Tina. But you know what we have to do now? You've gotta go take the test. We need to know before we start making all these big decisions."

I nuzzled into the warmth of his strong frame, not wanting to leave the comfort of his arms and face the reality I had to; peeing on a stick, waiting three minutes and then hoping for a minus sign while dreading a plus sign. Swallowing thickly, I asked, "Can you get me a glass of water?"

He tapped the top of my nose and that boyish grin flourished across his handsome features, his chocolate eyes twinkling as he teased, "You sure you don't want some Sunny D?"

Rolling my eyes, I scrambled to my feet. "_Please_. I'm _way hotter_ than Juno and you're _definitely hotter_ than Bleeker. But seriously, do you really think my parents would keep that _over processed fake juice_ in the house?"

**~*~T&F~*~T&F~*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F*~T&F~*~T&F*~T&F~***

_**Finn's POV -**_

I laughed under my breath at Tina ranting about how Sunny D was over processed and fake. She sounded _just_ like her Mom. My mind drifted to thinking about if our kid would sound like her or me, but quickly I shook it off.

She hadn't even _taken_ the test yet, so why was I thinking about _that_?

Swallowing this giant lump that was suddenly stuck in my throat, I felt my stomach get all twisty as I remembered how excited I was about Driz...I mean Beth before she was born and I thought I was her Dad. It was probably stupid of me to be _excited_; cause, like, I could have been a _Dad_ at _sixteen_ and stuff, but I just couldn't help it.

Not that it mattered; she was never mine even when I told Quinn we should name her Drizzle.

Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair and made my way over to the fridge. I grabbed a bottle of water and one of Sobe green tea cause Tina always drank tea when she was upset and stuff. Walking back up the stairs, I stopped halfway when I noticed the pictures that lined the wall. They were all of Tina; some with her parents and some of just her. In one it looked like she was just born, another she was finger painting when she was all chubby and had rosy cheeks and stuff, her first day of school was there too and all the way up to when we placed at Nationals for senior year and her in the graduation cap and gown.

Out of nowhere my heart started beating really fast as I just stared at all the pictures. There was even one that her Mom took of us after we told her parents we were getting married. Her pink lips were stretched wide and she stuck out her left hand – showing off the ring – while I had her in my arms and lifted high off the ground.

I knew I _shouldn't_ be thinking like this, but I _couldn't stop_ from wondering if I would have a wall just like this with pictures of mine and Tina's baby. Because, like, yeah there were times when I would go _there_ and stuff. But it was like _way_ in the future, like, after college and when we had a house and jobs and weren't broke and eating Ramen noodles. Then we'd have little me's and little her's running around with her eyes and smile and those little freckles across her nose and cheeks and my nose and hair and stuff.

Walking back into her room, I handed her the bottle of water before sitting down next to her on the bed. She didn't say anything, she just twisted the cap off and started guzzling like I had only seen Puck do with beer. She wiped her mouth and her head fell against my shoulder, her eyes drifting up to mine as she whispered, "I'll be right back."

I squeezed her whole body, nearly lifting her into my lap, but I stopped before I did. Kissing the top of her head, I watched as she walked across the hall to the bathroom and my eyes settled on the floor.

Slowly they drifted up and I looked around her room; remembering all the stuff we did. My lips curved just a little as I thought about when we were broken up and I kept sending her letters. Then I thought about how awesome it was when she let me get to third base. Then there was the time she thought it would be a good idea to let me paint her toenails.

My stomach clenched when I heard the door to the bathroom open and she came back in. Instead of sitting next to me, she sat in my lap and said, "Three minutes and counting."

"Okay."

I didn't know if I should say something or if I should just keep being quiet, but three minutes was a long time and the silence was already, like, messing me up or something. "Do you remember when you thought it was a good idea to let me paint your toenails?"

Her eyes were wide and her perfect mouth was open in that (even now) super distracting "o" shape. "Seriously, Finn?" She practically yelled as I winced; thinking I had majorly screwed up. "You want to talk about _that_? While we're waiting to see if our lives could be changed forever?"

"Silence freaks me out, okay? And, like, I don't know what else to talk about. Anything else I can think of is all heavy and depressing."

I was surprised when she brought her hand to her mouth to cover up her giggles. I totally hadn't expected to make her laugh. Pulling her closer, I felt her warm breath against my neck and I tilted her chin upwards so our foreheads were touching.

Giving her a small smile, I teased, "Your parents won't, like, disown you cause you could be pregnant with a Half-Asian baby, right?"

She half-rolled her eyes. "That All-American charm of yours doesn't _just_ work on hot Asian girls, Frankenteen; it _apparently_ works on the parents of hot Asian girls too."

Reaching for her hand, I linked our fingers together and I started rambling, "Our baby's gonna have brown eyes cause we both do, but like what about feet and hands and stuff? If it's a girl, they should have your hands and feet; cause dudes with tiny hands and tiny feet are weird. But if it's a girl or a boy they should have those little freckles you have across your nose; they're really cute. And then you always talk about how much you like my nose, so I guess they should have mine; though, yours is, like, awesome so it probably doesn't matter..."

"Finn!"

"What?" I blinked, my whole face heating up when I realized was getting, like, carried away and stuff. "Sorry." I mumbled sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. "But I just, like, really hope they're way smart like you. You know a brainiac and stuff."

"You're smart." Her eyes narrowed in that way that told me she was gearing up to argue and I chuckled. "Don't laugh." She insisted, jabbing me with her elbow. "You don't have to be labeled a "brainiac" to be smart. But if you're that concerned about it, I'm sure my Asian genes will prevail."

"We can do this, you know. If we have to, I mean. Cause I'm with you all the way, Tina."

Her long eyelashes fluttered before she looked away, hoping that I didn't see her eyes getting all shiny with tears, but I did. Turning her head back to me, I swiped my thumb underneath her eye, catching a tear before it could fall.

Her lips trembled and then her whole body started to shake and I felt sick as she buried her face in my neck and started crying. Her tears wet my skin and I wished I knew what to do to make her stop; cause, like, she was _not_ supposed to cry, ever. She was happy and bubbly and warm and her being sad meant something was wrong with the universe and stuff.

"Ti..." I barely got the first part of her name out, when her phone started playing _"Bela Lugosi's Dead,"_ which meant the three minutes was up, and I felt even sicker.

"Y-y-you hh-h-have t-tt-to look. I c-cc-can't."

I nodded but before I reached for the test, I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. She didn't kiss me back, but with our lips pressed together, I could feel her body slowly stop shaking. Just as I started to pull away, she gave in; her lips moved against mine, soft and light and warm, and I thought about our first kiss outside her door on her birthday and I wasn't feeling all that sick.

Pulling back for good, I took a deep breath and took the test from her. Flipping it over, I didn't know what I wanted it to say. Like, honestly, I just hoped I could read it and know what was positive and what was negative. I wasn't there when Quinn took her test, so it's not like I had experience with this sort of thing, you know?

Swallowing thickly, I closed my eyes and then looked down. I don't really know what I felt as the little minus sign stared back at me. "It's negative." I whispered hoarsely.

It was like I had just proposed to her all over again because suddenly, I was pinned to the bed with her on top of me. Her face was buried against my neck and she was crying again as her shoulders shook. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks were blotchy and her nose was rubbed raw, but she still looked beautiful.

"I don't know why I'm crying. Ugh. Or why I'm..." She hiccuped as she tried to catch her breath. Swallowing, she shook her head, her hair tickling my face and I put my hands on her wrists, holding her still. "I'm happy and I'm said." She confessed, big brown red-rimmed eyes staring into mine. "Someday I'm gonna have your Half-Asian babies, Finnegan Christopher Hudson, and I want you to know that; cause it's true. We're gonna have babies. I promise."

"Pinky swear?" My lips curved as I stared back at her.

"Pinky swear."

I let go of her wrists so we could link pinkies and then she laid down on top of me. Feeling her so close, had my head spinning and my stomach doing the twisty roller coaster thing. Her smell of jasmine and lilies was all over and as her lips touched my neck, I let my hands roam up and down her back before settling on her butt; giving it a squeeze, she laughed and I smiled.

"Sing." She whispered, her lips hovering over my ear.

When she lifted her head away from my ear, I pushed her hair behind hers and I leaned in to kiss her long and slow. Pulling back, I murmured, "You know those babies you pinky swore we were gonna have?"

Her head tilted in that totally cute way as she arched a brow. "What about them?"

"We're gonna sing this song to them after their born."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." I said before I pecked her nose with my lips and then I began to sing an old Bowie song, I knew she would like.

_**(We bought a lot of things**_

_**To keep you warm and dry**_

_**And a funny old crib on which the paint won't dry**_

_**I bought you a pair of shoes**_

_**A trumpet you can blow**_

_**And a book of rules **_

_**On what to say to people**_

_**When they pick on you**_

_**Cause if you stay with us you're gonna be pretty kookie too) ("Kooks" - David Bowie)**_

She laughed and for the first time I saw the brightness in her eyes I loved so much. "It's perfect." She whispered, stroking my arm up and down with her fingers.

Nuzzling deeper into my arms, she sighed as she looked up at me through her long, velvet lashes. "Let's sing the rest together, okay?"

"You got it."

_**(Will you stay in our lovers story**_

_**If you stay you won't be sorry**_

_**Cause we believe in you**_

_**Soon you'll take a chance**_

_**With a couple of kooks**_

_**Hung up on romancing)**_

_**Song used "Kooks" by David Bowie**_


	14. Chapter Twelve: You Feel So Far

**~*~Chapter Twelve: Back At Home You Feel So Far~*~**

**Day 315**

_**I miss you so bad/And my heart is so jet lagged**_

"_**Jet Lag" - by Simple Plan featuring Natasha Bedingfield - **_

_**Finn's POV -**_

Being back in Toledo _totally_ sucked, but it's not like I could just flake on my finals and go to Palo Alto with Tina; that'd be _crazy_. And my Mom would skin me alive and then cut me up into little pieces. Sure, she loved Tina and stuff, but not enough to be cool with me skipping my finals to be with her, and it's not like she knew about the whole pregnancy scare thing.

Sighing, I tossed and turned in my bed hoping I'd fall asleep soon. If I was asleep, I wouldn't be thinking about how far away she was and how much I missed her.

Eventually after the five and the nine on my digital clock were replaced by zeros telling me it was one in the morning, my eyes grew heavy and I fell asleep. I was sound asleep when and having that _awesome_ dream where Tina was the super sexy Asian version of Sydney Bristow from _Alias_ and she got to walk around in tight fitting leather outfits when suddenly I felt something hard hit me right in the face.

"What the hell, man?" I demanded, darting into a sitting a position as I rubbed my face. "Did you, like, just hit me with your shoe?"

"I had to get your attention somehow, Hudson." My roommate Jake glowered. "Your fucking phone is ringing off the hook. Answer it before I decide kicking your ass is more important than sleeping for the rest of the night; it's fucking two in the morning, douche bag. Ugh."

I was still sort of half asleep and as I fumbled around the side table near my bed for my phone. I managed to catch it before I hit the ground and blinking at me over and over on the tiny screen was _Tina_.

Yawning, I stretched my arms over my head before hitting the connect button with my phone. I didn't get a chance to say anything because immediately she said, "I've been sexiled and I'm bored as hell sitting in the hallway of my dorm room like a loser; entertain me, Finn."

I was kinda slow when I was working on a full eight hours just waking up after, like, two hours asleep had me functioning even slower. "Um..." I mumbled, letting out another yawn. "What?"

She sighed on the other end of the phone. "I woke you up didn't I?" Her voice was small and soft sounding. "I'm sorry. Just forget it, okay? I can play _Angry Birds_ until I finally fall asleep out here. Sure, I'll have horrible stinging neck pain from my body being propped up against a door from eight to ten hours, but it's better than trying to pretend Erica and her boyfriend Marcus _aren't_ making the beast with two backs. Besides, I doubt I could refrain from screaming _use a condom_! Or maybe I'd scream _the pill's only 99.9% affective and I should know!_"

Her attempt at a joke fell flat and it made my stomach clench, which had me squirming. We hadn't talked about the scare since it happened and I knew she was still _really_ freaked out by it.

Running my fingers through my hair, I bit the inside of my cheek as I climbed out of bed and padded across the hall to the dorm's bathroom. Shutting the door to the stall all the way at the end of the row, I leaned up against the wall and murmured, "I should have _stopped_ and got a condom. I'm so sorry Tina. I'm, like, the _worst_ fiancee ever."

Tears stung at my eyes as I remembered just how scared she had been and all the tears she had cried, and how she was _never, __**ever**_ supposed to cry. Blinking over and over, I scrubbed at my face with a closed fist, willing myself _not_ to cry.

"Stop it." She insisted, her voice using that tone when she would insist to me that I _was_ smart. "Haven't you ever heard, it takes _two_ to _tango_, Finn? In case you've forgotten and I _doubt_ you have, _I _was _there_ too, remember?"

I felt like a jackass as my mind wandered back to the morning we woke up together after I had proposed. She was too beautiful for me to resist with her lightly curled hair spilling everywhere and looking like a halo around her head while her ivory skin glowed from the streams of sunlight that were coming through the window.

Hearing her tell me – her voice all _breathless_ with need and _raw_ with lust – that she wanted to feel _all_ of me, _really_ messed with my head, but I _still_ should have been smarter and put on a condom. I wasn't _Puck_ for fuck's sake!

But the way she was looking at me and how she kept grinding her hips against mine before grabbing my hand and pressing it against her sex so I could feel just _how_ wet and ready she was, was _too much_.

"Are you done beating yourself up?" Her voice broke through my thoughts and I answered her honestly, "No. I don't think I _ever_ will be either. I really could have messed _everything_ up cause I _couldn't_ handle you being all sexy and in charge and stuff. Puck's right; I am a _major fail _waiting to happen when it comes to sex. That's probably why he and Santana _still_ call me _Finnocence_."

I didn't have to see her to know that she was rolling her eyes. "Puck's an _idiot_ and Santana's a _bitch_ to _everyone_ who's _not_ Brittany; don't listen to them. Like, I said, it takes _two_ to _tango_. You didn't _force_ me to do anything I _didn't_ want. I was the one who _kept_ telling you that I _didn't_ want you to wear a condom."

"Yeah, but I was _dumb enough_ to listen to you!"

"And you think Puck would have _stopped_ to get a condom if Lauren told him to get one _during_ sex? Because we both know he _wouldn't_. Just like if it was possible for Santana and Brittany to make ditzy girl babies with bitchy mouths during sex, _she_ wouldn't stop to _bother_ with a condom. You didn't do anything _wrong_."

"Yeah, I did." I whispered, my voice all raw and scratchy as I remembered how she was shaking and sobbing _that_ day in her room. "If I had put on a condom, you wouldn't have _cried_. And don't you know, Tina? You're, like, _never, __**ever**_supposed to cry. Crying's for Rachel who loves to be _all _dramatic about _everything_ and Quinn who knows it'll get her whatever she wants. And you're not Rachel or Quinn. You're _Tina_ who's _always_ happy and bubbly and bright. Rachel may be on her way to becoming, like, the _mega_ Broadway star she's always wanted, but you're the one who _twinkles_ like a real star."

"I twinkle?" She whispered back and I knew her pretty eyes were wide and her perfect mouth was forming _that_ o shape that always got my head spinning. "Are you serious? You _really_ think I _twinkle_?"

Her awesome bubbly giggles were hidden in her voice and I imagined she had her hand covering her mouth as her ivory cheeks flushed while she shook her head, glossy hair dancing all around her shoulders. Her giggles came through the phone and not for the first time I wished I was in Palo Alto instead of Toledo. Or that she was here.

"You _totally_ twinkle." I told her, laughing cause she was still giggling. "Trust me, okay? If _anyone_ would know that you _twinkle_, it's _me_. I mean, I'm _not_ looking at _anybody_ _else_ whenever we're together. Why would I?"

"It _sucks_ that you're saying all those sweet things about me when you're so far away."

"I wish you were here. Or that I was there. Ugh, why _isn't_ there a Stanford _in_ Ohio?"

"Or a University of Toledo in California?"

"Yeah." I mumbled absently, picking at the threads of my old worn McKinley High Titans football T-shirt.

"If you were with me right now what do you think we'd be doing?" She asked, her voice so soft I wasn't sure she said anything.

"You mean while Erica sexiled you?" I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Shut up. It's _not_ funny. Being stuck out here sucks, okay? And we'll see if _you_ think it's _so funny_ when it happens to you. Jake's going to bring a girl home before finals are over and then you'll be locked out of your dorm and when you call me whining about it, I'm going to laugh at you."

"It's a good thing I love the way you laugh then. And giggle too," I added as I felt my lips curve upward. "And when you pout and tilt your head when you're trying to figure stuff out and your smile. I just – you know – love _you_, Tina."

"None of our friends would _believe_ me if I ever told them this, but you know all the _right_ things to say, Finn Hudson. Don't ever stop doing that, okay? Cause as much as being so far away sucks, if you _stopped_ saying all the right things and all the sweet things, that would _really_ suck."

"I'll never stop. How else am I going to stay married to you?"

"We're not married yet, you dork."

"Whatever. We'll be married soon."

"We will, huh?" Her voice was all dreamy and breathless and I felt my stomach clench as a shiver raced up my spine.

I didn't know how long _soon_ was and she probably didn't either, but I wished _soon_ could be, like, _tomorrow_. I thought I had wanted to be with Rachel so badly and then when Quinn and I tried again, I thought she was what I wanted and I twisted myself in knots to try and be her perfect "Prom King boyfriend," but I didn't _want_ either of them as badly as I wanted _Tina_ to be here with me or to be where she was.

"After finals are over and we're back in Lima we should just, like, go and elope or whatever."

"You're lack of sleep is _obviously_ getting to you. Eloping would be impossible. I would need Mercedes and Kurt to be there and you – ugh – would need Puck who is so _whipped_ that he would _have_ to bring Lauren. And how _exactly_ would we make sure that Kurt and Mercedes keep this elopement a secret? They're my best friends and I love them, but they have the _biggest _mouths in Lima. I should _know_, I used to gossip with them about _everything_. And do you really think they're _not_ going to tell Mike and Blaine? And if Mike knows that's almost the same as my parents knowing. I mean what's he going to do? Lie to his parents and say _he and Mercedes_ got married?"

"I still say we could _totally_ pull it off."

"Because we're both such _amazing_ liars." She huffed and I knew she was rolling her eyes.

"I don't want to elope. I want a wedding with the dress and you in a tux and a cake and doing all the traditional _something borrowed, something old, something new, something blue_ stuff and tossing the bouquet and the garter. Don't you want that too? You know, like, what Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury had?"

"I want whatever you want. But, like, mostly I just want to marry you."

"I know what we'd be doing if you were here with me." She whispered.

"You do?" I blinked totally forgetting that she had asked me what I thought we'd be doing if I was with her.

"Kissing. We'd be kissing because you did it again; you said the right thing. How is it," She laughed and I closed my eyes; imagining her brown eyes being bright and shimmering as her pink lips twisted into her beaming smile. "That you can be so adorably clueless and so smart at the same time?"

"Just lucky that way I guess." I shrugged.

"It's late." She observed, sadness creeping into her voice. "Good luck with your finals. Remember that _you are _smart, okay?"

"I'd say good luck too but _you're_ the _brainiac_."

"Goodnight." The sadness was _all_ there this time and my stomach got tight while my heart clenched.

I knew how she felt; I didn't want to say goodbye either. I wanted to stay on the phone with her, but we couldn't do that. I thought about singing to her or asking her to sing to me, but that would only make missing her _worse_.

_**(I miss you so bad**_

_**I wanna share your horizon**_

_**I miss you so bad**_

_**And see the same sun rising**_

_**I miss you so bad**_

_**Turn the hour hand back to when you were holding me.) ("Jet Lag" by Simple Plan featuring Natasha Bedingfield)**_

"Night, Tina." I whispered hoarsely. "Don't, um, like let the bed bugs bite and stuff."

"I love you." A little bit of laughter broke through the sadness and that made me smile.

"I love you too."

_**(You say good morning when it's midnight**_

_**Going out of my head**_

_**Alone in this bed**_

_**I wake up to your sunset**_

_**And it's driving me mad**_

_**I miss you so bad**_

_**And my heart is so jetlagged**_

_**Heart, heart, heart is so jetlagged**_

_**Heart, heart, heart is so jetlagged)**_

_**Song used "Jet Lag" by Simple Plan featuring Natasha Bedingfield**_


End file.
